Whiter Shade of Pale
by Redemption by Fire
Summary: Regina knew the moment she first saw Snow White, that Snow was in trouble. She just hadn't known how much it really was. And since her mother was involved, it would never really end. Sometimes all it takes is one heart, to cause so much trouble. Is anybody really to blame for love? Post finale. AU once season 2 starts. mild unrequited girl/girl. Not any of the usual pairings.
1. Prologue

**Whiter Shade of Pale**

_Written as a challenge piece to improve myself as a writer. And because I'm totally in love with OUAT and fairy tale mythology. __  
__Will be AU once season 2 starts, but for now follows everything through the season finale. ___

_Warning: Not a swan queen pairing, because I don't see it happening. But there is an unrequited love between two girls. This is part of my challenge, to write something that I feel a tad uncertain about approaching. So if you are not looking to read about this, consider this your official warning.___

_I do not any characters from Once Upon a Time...yadda, yadda, etc. I just invented the back stories and the future plot. _

Summary: Snow always figured that Regina had just cause for hating her. But what was the deal with the heart? Seriously. And Regina knew the moment she first saw Snow that Snow was in trouble. She just hadn't known how much it really was. Sometimes all it takes is one heart, to cause so much trouble.

***  
Prologue

She knew it was over. The moment that she looked at her and laughed, the sunlight on her hair, the light in her eyes, the small dimple on her left cheek. Cora had tried everything to get this beautiful woman to see her, really see her. Sure they were friendly, but that was all. And Cora wanted more. She wanted to know everything about her, to share everything with her.  
But Maggie was either naive or cautious.  
A snore came from the corner, rousing Cora from her thoughts. Her very drunk father had rolled onto his back again, making a noise that would wake the neighbors if they didn't live so far out of the town, just outside of the mill.  
Dawn was fast approaching and she knew her father would be no good for the morning rush, so she hopped out of her bed, her cold feet touching the floor. But Cora liked the cold. The nippy feel outside, woke her and kept her going.  
Maggie was the first to show, just like usual. Since her father owned the bakery, she was always in early for the first bags of freshly ground flour.  
This particular morning, the mule was being obstinate.  
"Look I know you haven't been fed, but neither have I. You'll eat when there is something to pay for food with, so get moving you worthless animal. I could sell you for lard." Cora grumbled under her breath, pushing against the mule's backside.  
Maggie had heard her words, because she sharply replied. "Speaking to the mule like that won't help."  
Cora hissed, Maggie's soft anger at her harsh words, just driving home her own feelings of worthlessness. But Maggie's face softened. "Here try this."  
Maggie came around to the front of mule, stroking its muzzle. "Look, I know that it is a hard life here, but your master is kind. She doesn't eat first and leave you to starve. She is working on an empty stomach too you know." Then she began to hum. It was a tune about children playing underneath an apple tree. Maggie had sang it once at a town dance and Cora was sure that she loved her all the more for it.  
Cora didn't remember all the words, but a knot grew in the pit of her stomach. And it wasn't from lack of food. Humming and singing reminded her of her late mother. She always used to hum, while she cooked, while she cleaned. Any sort of song, just seemed to remind Cora of how alone she was without her. And without Maggie, she was sure she would hate music altogether.  
The mule began to move as Maggie moved and sang with it. She kept singing softly and began to include some of the words.  
"Around the tree, two little girls sing, both lament their losses.  
For underneath the apple tree, lie two little crosses.  
Each had a love, whom Death had stole,  
Each had an aching heart.  
The two of them, in grief were joined,  
Death's only failure to part."

Maggie stopped singing, seeing a tear escape from Cora, who quickly wiped it away.  
"Oh, Cora. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry. It was just the first song that popped into my head. I wrote it about us, you know."  
Cora was about to deny crying, but the last part made her pause. "You did?" Maybe she had hope after all.  
"I know you lost your mother, and I lost my sister. And last summer when you just let me sing silly little things under the tree for you, it helped. Grief together is better then grief alone."  
Cora couldn't believe what she was hearing.  
Maggie had tears in her eyes now.  
Cora longed to comfort her, but she couldn't think of anything in her clumsy ways. She tried to picture her mother and what she would have done. Stroked her face. Brushed the hair out of her eyes. Cora dropped her hold on the millstone and approached. She brushed the hair out of Maggie's eyes and rested her cheek in her palm. Maggie let another tear slip out and Cora used her finger to brush it away.  
Maggie smiled and her eyes brightened. Cora took a chance. Placing her other hand on Maggie's opposite cheek, she brought their lips together. The feel of her lips was softer than Cora imagined. Softer and warmer. She felt like she had taken more than one sip of her father's brandy bottle. Her thoughts began to muddle and it was...almost perfect. Almost, because Maggie pulled away.  
"What was that for?" She questioned harshly. She didn't look softer and warmer. Cora tried to get her thoughts together for a reply. "I..I...love you. I have for a very long time." She felt bold saying these words. But it was true.  
Maggie's eyes softened a bit and Cora thought she was okay, that she was just startled.  
"You are a sweet person Cora, who has had a rough life. But this isn't love." Maggie replied calmly.  
Cora furrowed her eyebrows. "How...how do you know? That this isn't true love."  
Maggie sighed and looked at the ground briefly, trying to gather her thoughts. "Did you feel warm and safe? Did everything suddenly make sense, yet there were no words for it?"  
Cora nodded. "Oh, yes. Isn't that what it's supposed to feel like?"  
Maggie gave a smile, but it was a sad and sympathetic smile. "Yes, but I did not feel those things."  
Maggie picked up her flour sack, still empty and turned and walked out. "We can still be friends, I hope." She added turning briefly before leaving.  
Cora didn't respond. She didn't have the strength.  
When Maggie was out of sight, she ran back towards their hut. Her father was there. Cora knew exactly where he would be. She ran to the town square where he was drinking and gossiping with a few of his drinking buddies.  
Cora sat down at their table and took one of the men's bottles and took a low swig. She hated the way it burned, it was stronger than brandy and she grimaced. The man began to complain, but her father hushed him. "Bit young for such troubles don't you think?"  
He took a swig from his own bottle. "What's eating at you? You look awful."  
Cora turned stiff. "She doesn't feel the same."  
Her father frowned. "Okay, this is way too early in the day for this. Who and what?"  
"Maggie doesn't love me. She just wants to be friends. But I only love her papa." Cora never called him papa, but right now it slipped out.  
There were whispers between the other men and Cora's father shooed them away.  
He placed his drink down and pulled her up straight so she looked into his eyes. "I once loved someone you see, I knew they were the one and only for me."  
Cora nodded. "What happened?"  
Her father growled. "She married some rich gentleman who didn't love her, because she was well cared for. And then she died in childbirth."  
Cora frowned. " Did you even love my mother?"  
Her father shook his head. "Nope, love had already hung me out to dry and I wasn't about to let it catch me again, no sir."  
Cora felt like the life was seeping out of her.  
Her father strove to stop her pitying herself. "Hey, you know what though. I got you out of the bargain. You work so hard, and take good care of me. Someday you'll do the same for your little girl. Give her a chance to be something better then you. A whiter shade of gray. And you could do anything you want to, with enough hard work and determination. You could spin straw into gold with that kind of spirit."  
Cora nodded. He was trying to be father-like for the first time in her memory, but all she heard was how useful she was at doing all the work.  
"Straw into gold?" A stranger passing by asked.  
Cora's father laughed. "My daughter is amazing, she could do anything." He took another drink from his bottle.  
The man turned to Cora. "Is this true? You can spin straw into gold?"  
Cora grinned cynically. "Of course I can."  
Cora would remember this day forever. She supposed was actually her own fault that she ended up in such a awful predicament. A loveless, abusive marriage and a cold cynical outlook. But mostly, she blamed everyone else.


	2. An Old Familiar Darkness

Back to Storybrooke. Point of View shifts will be separated by three stars. Hope this makes things easier to understand.

***  
Magic had arrived to Storybrooke. The Blue Fairy forced a smile in front of Emma. She was just as beautiful as she had imagined that she would be, but she was also just as fragile. In fact, the Blue Fairy, now seeing her for the first time through her memories of their previous world and all its troubles, was surprised that she had turned out so well at all. So despite all the dread she felt as her memories returned, she kept a smile on her face.  
She graciously, yet strongly brushed Regina away. She wasn't the real problem, by any means. She would have to deal with her later, now that magic was approaching, but for now she had more important things to worry about.

As soon as Emma and Henry ran out of the hospital into the square, where crowds of very confused citizens were gathering, looking for loved ones, the Blue Fairy turned and ran as fast as she could, back to the other sisters or rather her fairy sisters. She brushed past most of them, though their questions lingered in her mind. She had much to do, or else the true darkness would arrive.  
Rumplestiltskin may have brought this grief upon her, but if need be, he could be coerced into changing his mind. Jefferson had assured that. Belle would serve her role in this soon enough. Rumplestiltskin had a heart, a bitter, twisted one, damaged and mauled by dark magic, but he still had one. Enough to love Belle, even if it was an unhealthy love at best.

No, her fear was that now that magic was back, the portals in and out of this corner of the world would be opened. And there was someone whom she had banished long ago; that she knew would take the first opportunity to return, once she realized this. Someone, who was just as broken and twisted by dark magic as Rumplestiltskin, but was heartless as well.  
And the Queen of Hearts' original plan must not succeed; the Blue Fairy had caused much suffering, to ensure this. Sometimes, she thought that might make her just as bad as Rumplestiltskin, trying to put people and places together, like a pieces on a chess board. Both of them trying to fix the greatest mistakes they ever made.  
One of hers had been that she knew the Dark One most likely would not go, giving up his powers, but she encouraged his small boy anyway. And in his grief, Rumplestiltskin had tried to ensure that other children would be well cared for, stopping wars, bargaining children into better homes.  
She stared at the crucifix on the wall of the chapel. Both of them had tried to play God, she supposed. And look where it had gotten everyone.  
"Nova?"  
"Yes?" Came the tentative reply of the youngest nun/fairy.  
"Where is the mirror?"  
"The mirror? Which mirror?"  
"The one that shows people's true hearts. The one that we must use against the Queen of Hearts."  
A collective shudder and whispers broke out.  
Nova stepped up and faced the crucifix as well, her lip trembling.  
"I will personally look for it. Anything else?"  
The Blue Fairy shook her head. "Pray. There is something or someone that created this world and we are going to need all the help we can get."  
"What shall we ask for?" an older fairy asked.  
The Blue Fairy paused. She went with something that her fairy teacher had said many years before. "That we will all be a whiter shade of pale."

***  
Snow hadn't let go of her husband's hand since they were reunited. Perhaps out of fear, that somehow she would forget him, or perhaps that she would simply lose him in the crowd/mob of people gathering in the streets. But a part of her knew that, as the dark magic had restored itself and swept over her in the streets, that he was her lifeline. And old and familiar weight settled on her and she knew it wasn't just the grief or remorse that her memories had revived. It was fear. Fear of the unknown darkness.  
When Snow was little, and had told her father that not having a mother was the worst thing that could happen to her, her father tried to placate her. She stopped complaining, not because of his hands rubbing her back, soothing her, but because of what the servant girl, Natalie, who helped her dress, had said. She had stated that she had lost both of her parents, and that Snow should feel lucky. After that, she taught young Snow a game, a game where Snow would try to imagine the worst thing that could happen to her, and compare it to her blessings. But then worse then her imagination had occurred, and Snow had begun to think bigger. When worse then that happened, she had to stretch her imagination. When worse then that had happened, Snow had begun to wonder if there ever was a worst. The ultimate thing that could be done to a person, before they could claim they were defeated, that they were worse than dead. That they were the Worst.  
Snow was distracted from her silent internal downward spiral of dark thoughts, by a flash of blond. Emma!  
She almost called out to her tragic and beautiful daughter, but the look on the blond girl's face, was clearly one of panic and mental overload. She caught Snow's eyes and immediately looked away. Snow knew the look. She had seen it many times on many people's faces, even her own in the mirror. The, _I can not take one more thing or I will fall off the mental cliff_, look.  
It pained her to know that she couldn't be the one who she could turn to, to love her with such intensity that she would have to pull through everything in one piece.  
But Emma was holding onto Henry's hand with the intensity that she was grasping James's. So she knew that as long as the two of them had each other, she would make it through this.

***  
James held onto Snow's hand as though the strength of their clasp, could say everything that needed to be said. When the magic had swept over them, James felt like ice had been poured over him. He had found the woman he had loved, but once again a barrier was between them. He gave Snow a warm smile and suggested they move to find Emma/Henry. He tried to remain calm as he began to sort through his memories, but some of the ones he had feared the most, ones he realized had been the first to try and break through David's mind, called out as a warning. The curse was lifted, but James knew that forgetting everything was not the real curse. It had kept them apart, but so would magic.

Emma's long blond, princess hair had caught his eye and pulled himself out of his thoughts. It was clear that she was not in the right mindset to handle a family reunion. Clasping Henry just as tightly as he was holding Snow's hand, she looked like a deer in the headlights.  
Everyone was pushed and crowding, calling her name, questioning or demanding things of her. Something had to be done. If he couldn't be her father, he could at least do what a father ought to do.  
"Shut up." He yelled so loudly, that Snow flinched beside him.  
Everyone turned their attention to him.  
Taking a deep breath, James first turned to order. That was what princes did, right? Kept the sheep in the pens, lions in the dens.  
"She cannot possibly hear or help anyone if you are going to crowd her." Emma closed her eyes, but she was smiling slightly. James continued.  
"As sheriff of this new and more complicated town, she is going to do her best," he paused for emphasis. "To ensure that everyone is protected and problems resolved." Before cheering broke out, James pressed on. "So to do that, she is going to need information. Everyone, calmly sort things out at home and in two hours time, we will be taking a..." He struggled for the right word. Snow seemed to catch on however and filled in. "A census."  
The crowds started to complain, so Snow stood straighter and continued. "You have all had to do this before, here is not any different. Except perhaps that is most important now, when your protector doesn't know who you are." She cleared her throat, gave Emma a kind smile, but did not linger. "I expect everyone to contribute and be completely honest. Lies and secrets will not help her or you." The tension did not die down, but began to grow.  
Grumpy came to her rescue again. "You heard the lady queen, now go home!"  
The crowds of grumbling citizens began to depart.

When it was just Emma and Henry, Snow began to loosen her grip. James was sure from the torn look on her face, that she was ready to squeeze the life out of Emma and/or Henry if her daughter gave the slightest indication that she would welcome it.  
Emma had nervous eyes. James smiled, thinking how much they looked like Snow's. How they flicked around, never holding anyone one thing in their gaze for too long.  
"If you would like us to leave as well," James offered trailing off.  
Emma swallowed and meant his gaze briefly. "You don't have to leave...but I'm...I'm not ready for this." She wildly gestured to the two of them.  
Henry protested. "You're ready to believe that they are Snow White and Prince Charming, but not your..."  
Rumplestiltskin's arrival in the otherwise deserted town square, with a girl James didn't recognize by his side, interrupted Henry.  
"Don't let me mess up this happy family reunion. We are just on our way home." There was almost a sound of joy in this last statement. James frowned. Here it was more like a meeting of in-laws, rather than a joyous reunion. And the girl with Rumplestiltskin's face showed that she was less then pleased as well at the turn of events.  
"There is a census in two hours time." James commented, trying to sound calmer then he felt.  
"Well, wouldn't want to miss that, would we deary?" The girl made motion to speak but was quickly pulled away.  
She turned briefly to look back at the awkward family gathering. "I'm sorry." She mouthed.


	3. Don't Expect a Badge

***  
Regina's tears had dried on her face in her hurry. Losing Henry and then losing him to Emma were now the least of her concerns. When she saw and felt the dark magic, there was too much be done, to bother even wiping them away. She began to compile every magical artifact, trinket, and book she had. Intensely pleased and yet equally angry at Rumplestiltskin, for bringing back magic, she had to be ready. When she saw him walk back past her office with Belle on his arm, she knew that war was not on his mind. And neither was that trip had had been hinting about. Which made her even more afraid. With Rumplestiltskin focused elsewhere, and Emma not able to control any magic that she might contain, at least not yet, this somehow made her the town's sole protector. Which was rather ironic.  
She made her way towards the boarded up library. But a line was forming outside of it, so she hung back and watched.  
Emma and Henry were sitting at a folding table.  
"Storybrooke Name."  
A rather dejected looking therapist stepped forward.  
"Archie."  
"Storybrooke Job"  
"Therapist."  
Henry gave him a kind smile. "Real Name?"  
"My birth name or what people know me as?"  
Emma shrugged. "Both." She turned to Henry. "Perhaps we should ask for any Aliases."  
Henry nodded.  
Regina was amused. A census. Couldn't have been Emma's idea. A brief glance around showed that James and Snow were both off to the side. Of course. She turned her attention to the questions again.  
"Anything else we ought to know?"  
Archie, or rather Jiminy Cricket, nodded somberly. "I made a deal with Rumpelstiltskin."  
Henry raised an eyebrow. "Really?"  
Jiminy bit his lip. "It was a long time ago, before I became a conscience."  
Emma seemed to be looking around at the crowd. "Perhaps, Henry that would be a good question to ask people. If they have ever made a deal with him."  
There was instant grumbling from those who could hear her.  
Regina sensed a mob growing in protest.  
Snow however, stepped forward and stood next to Jiminy.  
"Well, aren't you going to ask me my name?"  
Emma seemed stunned and Henry seemed confused. "She already knows your name."  
But Emma played along with Snow's request.  
"Storybrooke Name."  
"Mary Margaret Blanchard."  
"Job"  
"School Teacher."  
Henry once again interrupted to ask his favorite question. He looked like a kid at Christmas time. Getting everyone to admit he was right, out loud and then have it written on paper.  
"Real Name."  
"Princess Snow White, daughter to King Leopold."  
Henry beamed. Emma sighed.  
"Have you ever made a deal with Rumpelstiltskin?"  
Everyone got quiet.  
Snow took a deep breath. "Yes."  
Henry grinned. "That was to figure out how to break the curse. It says so in the book."  
Snow shook her head. "Well, that was one of them."  
Emma blinked. "Wait so just how many of them are we talking about?"  
Snow frowned and for effect, held up her fingers to count along with in her mind. As the number grew above 5, whispering began to break out again and Henry's face fell.  
"8."  
Snow tried to give Henry a smile, but his gaze was no longer looking at her.  
Regina knew Snow was trying to encourage honesty among the citizens of Storybrooke, by her bold confession. But Regina frowned, it pleased her that Snow had fallen a bit in Henry's eyes, but it also pained her. Snow was his family, like it or not. And a loss of a hero in one's parents or grandparents, was just a small step to self-hatred. Regina knew that well.  
So she stepped forward, announcing her presence to the line of people. "Well, what about me? Can't leave me out of my own town census."  
Still dressed in her Storybrooke wardrobe, but decked in various magical necklaces and rings, people spread apart, making room for her.  
Emma recovered first. "Storybrooke name."  
"Regina Mills."  
"Job"  
"Mayor."  
When Henry didn't interrupt, Emma reluctantly asked the next question. "Real Name."  
Regina bent down and looked Henry in the eye. "Regina Mills."  
Henry obviously didn't believe that. "Any aliases?"  
Regina turned to the crowd. "You all know already what you call me, when you think that you will be safe. But no one is ever safe, not really."  
She turned back to Henry however, and said very slowly. "I've been called the Evil Queen."  
Henry didn't bother writing.  
"Have you ever made any deals with Rumplestiltskin?"  
Regina locked in her gaze. "Yes."  
Emma squared her shoulders. "How many?"  
Regina laughed, a bitter and twisted laugh. Emma shivered slightly. Regina smiled like a Cheshire Cat. "I've lost count."  
Emma took a deep breath. "Then give a rough estimate."  
Regina closed her eyes. "...about...30, give or take a dozen or so."  
A collective whisper spread through the crowd. Henry however, seemed to rise from his thoughts and continued to write. He seemed less distressed, so Regina considered her goal accomplished. If she had to be the bad guy, then so be it. But that wouldn't last long. It couldn't last long.  
Regina turned again. "I'd like to see any of you beat that." Regina then squared her shoulders back and walked dangerously close to Snow. "I didn't do that for you, Snow."  
Snow met her gaze with a sad fierceness. "I know."

Emma was reading over the census in the sheriff's office. She was certain that no matter how many cups of coffee or shots of whiskey, that she would still feel like she was going to explode. Explode from too much responsibility. She had avoided it whenever possible for most of her life and now it seemed determined to kill her.  
She flung the papers harshly on the desk.  
"That won't make them disappear."  
Emma's heart gave an extra beat. August was alive. She was about to greet him cheerfully, but then she remembered that he was part of the reason she was in all this mess. So Emma refused to look up, just to show her anger, but August could read through it.  
"I'm still pissed that you told Henry it was up to him. You could have gotten him 6 feet under."  
August propped his still slowly transforming back, wooden leg up onto the desk. "Not even a, glad you aren't made of wood, happy to see you?"  
Emma's right side of her face had a brief smile sneak up onto it. "Nope."  
There was an awkward, but not unpleasant silence between them.  
Emma changed topics.  
"So Granny didn't even notice, eh? Because if she did, I'm sure she would not have let you leave so easily."  
August sighed. "She's a little preoccupied."  
Emma raised an eyebrow. "More so then everyone else?"  
August nodded. "Normally, I would have received quite the fussing over, but she is in a panic of sorts. You haven't noticed a red cloak around here, have you?"  
Emma blinked. "Like a Little Red Riding Hood sort of cloak? No."  
August sighed. "Then we should give her a hand."  
"Why?"  
"Because this is going to be your first big test as sheriff of a bunch of fairy tale creatures. It's a full moon tonight." August replied. "You don't want to find out what happens, if we don't find the cloak."  
Emma closed her eyes briefly and sighed. "What will she get eaten by a Big Bad Wolf?"  
August frowned, "You really should read Henry's book again, with a fresh outlook."  
Emma stood up. "Just get to the point, August."  
August took down his leg from the desk. "She's a werewolf."  
"Ruby?"  
"Red/Rose/Ruby. Whatever, yes." August mumbled.  
Emma frowned. She walked over and put on her jacket.  
August stood. "Guess you'll need a deputy who knows his stories. Where is Henry, by the way?"  
Emma growled. "Family time. Probably hugging him to death."  
August didn't push on that topic. He had learned from experience that pushing an issue was rarely effective. And especially not with Emma.  
He put on his jacket as well. "So guess you'll need the help then?"  
Emma rolled her eyes. "Don't expect a badge or anything."  
***


	4. I know what it is like

***  
There was only two hours of light left, and Red was almost in tears. Granny and she had been tearing apart the diner and the bed and breakfast all day, with no luck. Red was now searching public places, such as the town hall, the clock tower, and town square. Granny had gone off to ask to search people's homes. Red was currently trying to lock pick the door to the boarded up library. But it seemed magically sealed as well as physically. Red kicked the door a few times, her blood already becoming hot, but in frustration. Sinking to the ground, she allowed herself to cry.  
A familiar voice called out to her. Snow. Red looked up and wiped her face. "I don't know if the rules here are the same, but I'm afraid that with magic back, they will be."  
Snow held out her hand to help Red off the ground. "When Granny came by my apartment, I rallied up everyone I could think of to help. James is off with Henry, to search Regina's home, and I think I saw Emma and Pinocchio searching the forest. Grumpy is locating the other dwarves and they are going to make a sweep of the docks."  
Red gave a weak smile. "Thanks."  
Snow seemed to lead the way. "Where are we going?" Red asked.  
Snow gave a slightly frightening smile. "To see Mr. Gold of course."  
"You think he has it?" Red questioned.  
Snow blew air out her nose. "I have others searching with the hope that I am wrong. But if Regina doesn't have it, I'm sure Rumpelstiltskin does."  
The bell tinkled as they entered his shop.  
Red generally avoided Mr. Gold's shop, even before her memories returned. Took a beast to know a beast, she moped. And Rumplestiltskin was a much bigger beast.  
A girl came from behind the counter. "Belle?" Red questioned.  
Belle gave a sad smile. "Can I help you?"  
Snow was confused but pushed on. "Is Rumplestiltskin around?"  
Belle nodded slowly, but repeated her question. "Can...I... help you?" With extra emphasis on the word I, Red understood.  
"We are just looking for my red cloak."  
Belle nodded. "We have a section of clothes in the back, I could look."  
"What are we looking for, my dear?" Mr. Gold emerged from the back room.  
Seeing Red and Snow, Mr. Gold smiled. "Ah, Rosie, how may I help you?"  
Red glared, only her mother had ever called her that.  
"You know what I need, I want to know what I need to get it back." Red growled.  
"I haven't seen your cloak, since I last saw you wearing it, many, many years back, in another lifetime." Rumpelstiltskin replied. "But now that I have my powers back, perhaps I could locate it for you or make a new one...for a price."  
Before Snow could speak, Red bit back a response. "What kind of price?"  
Mr. Gold smiled. "Well, you only have one thing I really want."  
Red's eyes narrowed.  
"Your allegiance." Rumpelstiltskin's eyes flashed dangerously.  
Snow jumped in on that. "I don't think so."  
Rumplestiltskin bent over the counter and looked at Snow, a bit of the yellow seen in his eyes. "How is my request any different from your use of her?"  
Snow protested. "Red was never obligated to help me."  
"The girl who befriended a beast, captured her, before she killed anyone else and then spared her from killing herself. Gives her a purpose. I think that you delude yourself Snow White, if you think that are that much different then me. Duty and obligation comes in many forms." He turned to look at Red again. "Let Rose speak for herself."  
Red was looking at the ground. "How soon would you need for an answer?"  
"Oh, I could make a cloak very quickly."  
"If we don't find it in an hour. I will be back." Red replied without raising her eyes.  
Snow looked like she wanted to protest, but kept her mouth shut.  
Red turned and fled from the shop and Snow quickly followed her.

***  
Once they were outside, Red began to cry again. Leaning up against the nearest telephone pole, she hung her head. Snow reached out to comfort her, but Red pushed her hand away.  
Snow stood in stunned silence, but she did not leave. Snow saw James and Henry in the distance and upon seeing them, James sadly shook his head no. Emma was getting out of the sheriff's car and gave her an equally tired and sad look. Emma walked over towards the two of them. "The dwarves have already been sent out to spread out the word of an immediate curfew. What else would you recommend?" Snow almost beamed at the thought that her daughter was at least asking for her advice, even if she wasn't ready to be a family yet.  
"I'm not sure.." Snow began.  
"I meant Ruby/Red, whatever." Emma corrected.  
Snow tried not to show dismay and instead tried to focus on Red.  
Red spoke, but did not look up. "I would recommend that anyone who thinks that their home could easily be broken into by force, be allowed to move to a more secure public location."  
"Like the sheriff's office?" Emma posed.  
Red nodded.  
Emma gave a curt nod and jogged off, taking James and Henry into the station. She turned back to look at Snow for a moment, asking with her eyes, if Snow was coming. Snow looked up at the sky. The sun was setting, but they had a good hour at least. Snow shook her head no. Emma seemed to accept that and continued on her way. Getting in the car, Emma drove off, going up and down the streets of Storybrooke to collect anyone who wanted protection.

When everything was silent, Red finally looked up and at Snow. "Why are you still here?"  
Snow frowned. "I'm your friend."  
Red sneered. "Yeah, and why is that?"  
Snow did not answer right away, so Red continued. "I'm going to make the deal with Rumpelstiltskin. I need to get my cloak back."  
"But, making a deal with him never ends well." Snow protested.  
Red rolled her eyes. "Says the woman who has made 8 of them."  
Snow closed her eyes. "Yes, and how many of those ended well."  
Red thought on that. "Since I only know about 3, I really couldn't say.  
Snow got defensive. "I haven't told you about everyone of them, no."  
Red growled back, sounded dangerously close to a throaty growl. A wolf-like growl. "Isn't that what friends do?"  
Snow bit her lip. "My husband doesn't even know about all of them."  
Red's eyes got wide for a second. "And why not?"  
Snow looked down at the ground for the first time. "Because I was ashamed."  
Red thought about that and an awkward and tense silence hung between them.  
"Why are you my friend, Snow?" Red asked again. "What do we have in common?"  
Snow closed her eyes. She didn't know what to say. A common goal? The knowledge of what it was to be hated. No, only Regina really hated her and she probably deserved most of the hatred.  
"We've both lost our mothers." Snow answered.  
Red shook her head, "Not in related ways."  
Snow sighed. "I don't know. Do I need a reason?"  
Granny was approaching in the distance, but she was not carrying a cloak, and she looked exhausted.  
Snow's thoughts turned dark again. Something that, she briefly reflected, happened an awful lot. Especially since having seen the gravestone under that little apple tree, especially since the apple. Ever since the dark magic showed her things she didn't want to believe. Snow's mouth was dry as she spoke again. "I know what it is like to hate myself."  
Red seemed confused for a second, but recalled Snow's confession when they were taking back her kingdom. "That wasn't your fault. You were 12 years..." she stopped herself. Her wolf senses were telling her that there was so much more to Snow's statement. Perhaps even things that Snow did not remember. Snow had admitted once that she had nightmares about what she had seen while inside the coffin, but she had never disclosed any of the details. They were just visions, sent to torment her, they weren't real, she had said.  
Red's wolf senses were also telling her that the moon as very close. Red didn't continue the conversation, panic setting in. "You've got to go now."  
Snow shook her head no. Granny came up. "Go Snow, you have a family."  
Snow reluctantly turned to walk towards the sheriff's office. She turned to watch Red and Granny enter the pawnshop.


	5. Invested in your future

Back to the past!

Cora sat a room filled with straw. It had been two nights already in which the mysterious manikin came in and promised to weave gold for a price.

Cora knew the threat of death hung high over her head if she were to fail and now she was even more afraid.

Tonight the stakes were higher. Spin or die, Spin and wed. Both options were bad. King George was a cruel and vicious man.

Cora had already given her mother's necklace away and then her mother's wedding ring. Both of the tokens that were her only lifeline to her mother. What more would the manikin demand?

Maybe she would be better off dead?

As she thought this dark thought, the manikin appeared again.

"Go away." Cora grumbled.

"But I hear you are a lady in need once again." The man protested kindly.

"I have nothing to offer you." Cora replied sullenly.

"Trinkets are nice, but everyone as something more to offer," the manikin gave a wicked smile.

"Do you want my body, is that your cost?" Cora growled. She knew people in her village that had done this and they were always well off. And miserable.

The manikin seemed offended however.

"Nay, that would be…" The man didn't finish. "I have been around for hundreds of years. I will not make the same mistakes of the past."

Cora frowned. So he had slept with people in the past as his price for magic. A horrible thought awoke in Cora's mind.

"Did you…am I? Did my mother?" Cora couldn't even voice her dark thought. That the Dark One could be…

"Nay, you are not that close of a descendent. However, it would still be…awkward." The manikin actually blushed.

"Let's just say I'm invested in your future." The manikin recovered.

Cora frowned. "A future with a horrible man. That is what you have come to offer me?"

The manikin frowned and turned the spinning wheel, watching it spin with a distant look.

"No, I have further reaching plans."

Cora raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, like what?"

The manikin shook his head. "I don't reveal all my secrets."

He grabbed Cora's shoulder. "If you marry King George and have his child, it will die. He will turn to me for a replacement, so the kingdom will not know that he produces weak offspring, and I will set a noble heart on the throne."

Cora blinked. "So what you expect me to play mother to an unknown child, so that you can rule a kingdom?"

The manikin smiled. "You will be a good mother."

Cora did not agree with this. "What will I get out of this?"

The Dark One frowned. "Isn't motherhood and a kingdom good enough. You won't have to put up with King George for long. He has…many enemies."

Cora shook her head. "Maggie wanted children. I did not."

The Dark One did not ask who Maggie was. He seemed to already know. "Your first born for a kingdom. That's a pretty fast rise to power. What more could you want?"

Cora smiled. It seemed like the bargaining was in her favor. What had she been worried about? The Dark One seemed to want this kingdom pretty badly.

"You can do what you want with my dead baby, if you truly can see the future that well. You could run the kingdom yourself for all I care."

The manikin frowned. "So what do you want?"

Cora smiled. It was almost sinister.

" I want Maggie. I want her heart to belong to me."

The manikin frowned and closed his eyes. He spun the wheel under his fingers again. He seemed to be viewing something, however, for his face betrayed a set of emotions that changed over time.

When he opened them, his face was pale and taunt.

"This is possible, with magic. But it this what you really want? Be careful what you wish for."

Cora's eyes widened. "Yes, more then anything."

The manikin sighed. "Then we have a deal."


	6. The nature of the beast

Because reviews=chapters

Thanks Temo! In answer to your question, because she is turning...into a wolf. Red's loyalties haven't shifted. And Snow never had the wolf's loyalty.

***  
"So you are ready to make a deal?" Rumpelstiltskin smiled.  
Red took a deep breath. "What sort of things would my allegiance entail?"  
"Oh, just your assistance in protecting me or the things I care about, should the need ever arise." Red snorted. "You can defend yourself, what is this really about?"  
"Ah, but Belle might need your protection, if I was preoccupied." He gestured to the curtain, where he knew that she was standing, listening in.  
Red mulled over this. "But I wouldn't be of much assistance, unless an attacker came during the full moon."  
Rumplestiltskin smiled. "I wouldn't let something so easily overcome, keep you from your duties."  
Red began to catch on. "You...cockroach...you would have me transform, at your beck and call. Never." She grabbed Mr. Gold by the neck, but Granny tried to pull her off. "Red. Rose. Rosie!"  
"No deal." Red repeated not really calming down, despite Granny's grip. A blast of dark magic sent them both flying with a thud to the floor.  
"Then get out of my shop." Mr. Gold firmly replied, adjusting his shirt and rubbing his neck.  
Red stumbled out, almost on her hands and knees. Granny following behind her.  
Mr. Gold looked at the clock. "15 minutes."  
He walked through the curtain, half expecting to see Belle pretending to be busying herself tidying the place instead of eavesdropping, but she didn't see her.  
He frowned. The wardrobe in the back of his office, was open. And something was missing.

Back at the station, Emma was loading rather a lot of people into the two very tiny jail cells. Henry was reaching his hands through the bars, swiping in the air, and people moved back up against the wall. "I don't think any more can fit in these cells or she would definitely be able to scratch at people, even inside the cell."  
Doc came in holding a box. "They just finished cooling, so use sparingly. There is only four bullets and it has to be the heart to stop her."  
Emma opened the box and sighed. She began to fill her spare gun with the silver bullets. There was howl outside and everyone tensed. "Get in the cell, Henry."  
Henry swallowed hard, and locked himself in the cell with August, James and Snow in it. Snow comforted him, stroking his hair.

A thud.  
Emma jumped up on top of the desk.  
"Careful, she can jump pretty high." Snow warned.  
Emma zipped up her thickest jacket and undid her ponytail, letting her hair fall around her neck and tucking it into her jacket. "Smart." Henry commented.  
"Unless she gets grabbed by the hair." Grumpy mumbled.  
Emma tried to slow her breathing, as the thuds and scratches and howls continued.  
"She's been so busy all day, searching, she is probably pretty hungry." Archie commented. "Shut up!" Emma yelled and a shiver ran down her back. She hated vampire movies, she hated werewolf movies, actually she hated horror movies in general. She tried not to think about the town sheriff usually being mauled to death, etc. But of course, trying not to think about it, was causing her to think about it.  
James began to sing some sort of shepherd song, about counting sheep as they entered the pen, which distracted her. He had a very soothing voice. She briefly wondered what sort of lullabies he knew, but she shook her head. Those thoughts would be just as dangerous right now.  
Soon the scratching stopped.  
"Maybe she has moved on?" Henry questioned.  
But then, with a renewed burst of vigor, the door hinges shattered. Everyone pushed up against the cell walls.  
Inside the glowing eyes were visible first. Emma cringed when the first paw stepped into the room. She aimed her gun. "Sorry Ruby."  
The wolf charged, but did not jump up, like Emma had expected, so she could get a clear shot. Instead it ran under the sheriff's desk and overturned it knocking Emma to the floor.  
"Mom!" Henry screamed and ran for the bars. Snow pulled him back, but it was enough to distract the wolf. Running its paws through the bars, it tried to reach the great many people in such a small space. Henry's arms looked small and short compared to the wolves' reach and people began standing on the cots. August kicked the wolf in the face, with his leg. The wolf grabbed it pulled August toward her.  
A shot rang out, and the wolf howled. Its left paw was bleeding, and it let its hold on August go. And turned back for Emma. Emma shot again, this time the bullet hitting the cell bars.  
"Turn her around, Emma." James yelled.  
"Yeah, before you kill any of us." Grumpy yelled.  
Emma hopped over the desk and aimed again. The wolf seemed to follow, but stopped and ran for the other cell. Katheryn/ Abigail took Archie's cane and proceeded to beat the wolf on the head. The wolf seemed stunned at first, but it merely turned and jumped for Emma, who was not prepared for a sudden turn around. Its claws forward in a hind leg jump, Emma aimed for the heart, but she was thrown to the ground, the bullet grazing the wolves shoulder. Rolling on the ground, like she had seen in the movies, Emma tried to escape being stuck under the wolves descending form. It's claws scratched her jacket. Emma gave a scream. Snow opened the cell, throwing James the keys. Knowing better than to protest, he held down a screaming Henry. Snow stood on top of the toppled desk. Holding the other gun, the one without the silver bullets, that had been thrown to the ground, Snow fired. This bullet hit the wolves shoulder and it turned on Snow. The wolf's claws were inches from Snow's face when there was a sudden jolt of magic and the wolf was knocked backwards. Faster than anyone could scream, a girl entered the room with a red cloak on. Pulling it off, Belle, flung it over the wolf and there was a thud as it collapsed.  
Snow panted and stepped down off the desk. Blood was spreading onto the floor and Snow lifted the cloak slightly. Red was bleeding rather aggressively from her hand and her shoulder. Tears streaming down her face, she pulled the cloak back down around her tightly. Emma groaned and stood.  
Emma reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a first aid kit. Handing it to Snow, she turned to Belle.  
"You were the woman with Mr. Gold the other day, weren't you?" Emma questioned.  
Belle nodded. "It's Belle." She held out her hand. Emma tentatively shook it.  
"Like in the story, Beauty and the Beast?" Henry asked coming out of the cell.  
Belle seemed confused. She closed her eyes. "If I'm not her. I'm just as stupid."  
She turned to Red. "You have nothing to fear from me, you understand. Keep it, he won't argue with me. He told me that everything that he owns in the shop, belongs to me too. I plan to use that to my advantage. I'm pretty pissed at him for bringing back magic and I plan to make him understand this full well."  
Red didn't say anything, just clung tighter to her cloak.  
Emma opened the jail cells. The other began to fill out, some going home, some staying to help clean up. Emma smiled. "I like you, Belle."  
"Well, there isn't much a girl can do around here, to show what she is made of. I don't fire weapons, but I have my own arsenal."  
"Your magic was pretty impressive." Emma disagreed.  
Emma pulled out her cell phone as Henry gave her a huge hug, and called Dr. Whale.  
"Dr. Whale is headed over, he already has people helping Granny outside.  
Red groaned. "I didn't get anyone else did I? I didn't contaminate anyone else...please tell me I didn't make another beast." Snow looked up at Emma. Emma looked down at her jacket. There were a couple of decent scratches. Emma unzipped the jacket. August moved her hair  
out of the way and she shivered. Ignoring this, Emma proceeded to inspect herself.  
"Nope, I think, we won't be needing any other cloaks."  
Emma frowned. "Unless, you will need one." She turned to August. He smiled pulling up his clawed pant leg. "Wooden leg."  
Emma cracked a smile.  
Everyone began to come out of the cells and return home. Belle turned to Emma in the noise of everyone moving about. "That wasn't me. I don't have any magic. Especially not dark magic."

The smile fell from Emma's face. Who was it? She scanned the room. Who was hiding dark magic, other than Ruby? Emma got little to no sleep, running through the census, hoping for a small clue.

Regina didn't sleep all night either. Torn from worrying about Henry to worrying about getting back up to speed with her magic, so that she could protect Henry, she looked just as bleary-eyed as Emma the next had heard the whispered gossip, as she got walked past the sheriff's office, and she entered the building rather cross. Emma was still wearing the torn jacket, which annoyed Regina, staring at her cup of coffee, with a vacant expression on her face.  
Regina surveyed the room. Things had been put back, but the door was off its hinges and blood still on the floor. "Red has her cloak and now she is in the hospital, if you care." Emma mumbled.  
Regina didn't, but she did care about Henry. "No one's skin was pierced during her rampage, I hope."  
Emma shook her head no.  
Regina gave a hmm. "You need a list of dangerous criminals board."  
Emma raised an eyebrow. "Ruby isn't a criminal."  
"I'm sure that destroyed public property and committing violent acts against citizens, definitely count as criminal acts."  
"I'm not going to arrest her, if that is what you are getting at." Emma growled.  
Regina frowned. "Are you sure you weren't bitten?"  
Emma took a sip of coffee. "No marks. Just the jacket"  
Regina sipped her own coffee mug in her hand.  
"Fine, but you need a list of dangerous people posted, so that people know what to expect and how to prepare if they feel threatened."  
Emma looked up. It almost seemed like Regina actually cared about the townspeople. "How does this help you?"  
Regina pretended to be affronted by this. "Help me? Not everything has to be for my benefit."  
Emma not believing this, ignored this and started cleaning her gun.  
Regina continued. "Well, there are much bigger threats than Rose."  
Emma looked up. Regina actually seemed more then a bit concerned. And the fact that she hadn't located Henry yet, and dragged him away from Snow, meant that something really was occupying her waking hours. Something really was wrong.  
"Okay, I'll bite." Emma snickered at her own joke. "Who are we putting on this board of danger?"  
Regina smiled. "Rumplestiltskin, and a few other criminals, he might side with if necessary." Regina threw the folder down on Emma's desk. Emma opened it. None of the people were ones whose names she recognized, except one. The Queen of Hearts."  
"Isn't she from Alice in Wonderland. Is this a joke?" Emma frowned.  
Regina frowned too. "Alice in what?"  
Emma thoughts turned to Jefferson, whom she hadn't seen since the kidnapping. He had thought he was the Mad Hatter. Maybe the Queen was real too.  
"Okay, so I'll put these up there, under one condition."  
Regina nodded. "What would that be?"  
Emma smiled cynically. "That your face goes up there too. People should know what they are up against."  
Regina smiled a bit too happy for Emma's liking. "Of course. Go right ahead."  
Emma closed the file.  
"One more thing." Regina added. "Anyone else who commits dangerous crimes should be added, as soon as possible. Magic changes people."  
Emma couldn't argue against that.


	7. Thick as Thieves?

Thanks Temo! It helps that I am several chapters ahead in writing, so I can just pop one up here when I get a review. Good guess, but... :)

***  
Emma stood outside of Mary, no, Snow's apartment, no, Their apartment. She could hear laughing, Henry's laughing. She felt like she was intruding. Which was ridiculous, because it was her apartment. Henry was her kid, and well...  
Emma pushed into the room before her thoughts could take her to that forbidden place.  
She was greeted warmly by James and Henry gave her a hug. "Red's doing okay, she made it through surgery and they said none of the wounds were major. Her left hand might not open and close the same, but she is happy no one was hurt."  
Emma frowned. "I thought Granny..."  
James interrupted. "She's got a few scratches, but she'll be fine."  
Henry nodded. "Not too bad looking, not very deep Dr. Whale said."  
"But..." Emma started.  
Snow entered the room. "She is already a werewolf."  
Emma blinked. "So there were two of them running around?"  
Snow shook her head no. "The...blood...it fades over time. Old werewolves, if they manage to survive, usually fade out."  
Emma tried to process this. "So did she bite Red or is it genetic?"  
Snow sighed. "It unfortunately can be passed onto your children."  
Emma frowned. Perhaps she should have been a bit more careful. Not that she was planning on having any more children. Not that she had planned on having Henry, so one could never be too careful.

"Snow made dinner if you want some." James offered. "I'm sure it's been a long day." He and Henry went back to playing a game of checkers, which Emma hadn't noticed before. Henry looked like he was winning.  
Emma nodded. She looked over at the stove. Inside the pan was meatloaf.  
Snow had a piece on a plate and a fork, before Emma could speak.  
Emma sat down at the table. She was glad that James and Snow had accepted her statement that she wasn't ready, and had not tried to be pushy in talking about family. But she could tell it was driving Snow crazy. She was hovering. Emma took a bite. "It's good." She mumbled while chewing. She could see that Snow wanted to say something about manners and she wouldn't have restrained if she were Mary Margaret still, and this was just the two of them, roommates and friends.  
Emma tried eat the food without thinking too much. About how much she loved meatloaf, her favorite comfort food, up there with mac and cheese, and Ben and Jerry's. Which despite being so close to Vermont, was not buyable in Storybrooke. But Mary Margaret always seemed to have some sort of ice cream on hand. Usually Mint Chocolate Chip. Her favorite. And Emma's favorite. Ugh, trying not to think about it was just as bad.  
"Sit." Emma commanded Snow, who was still hovering. "Your nervous twitching and hovering is almost as bad as talking about things would be."  
Snow sat. A strange silence fell between them. "It's like a magic mirror." Snow mumbled staring at the table.  
"What is?" Emma asked, even though she knew she was pulling her symbolic finger out of the dike. But it just slipped out.  
"This." Snow gestured to Emma with her arm. "Seeing the thing you love, knowing that it's real, that it's alive, but that are no closer to touching it then you were before you were sure." Snow began to tear up, and Emma closed her eyes. "I don't want to talk about us..."  
Snow quickly sniffed and diverted. "Regina had so many mirrors. Mostly of them magic of some nature."  
Emma swallowed the bite of meatloaf that was stuck in her throat. Regina was a better topic.  
"Okay."

Snow continued, though she still seemed on the verge of crying. "She had one that could let you talk to other people if they stood in front of another mirror. I tried to use it once, to talk to my mother. She just laughed at me and said that dead people were beyond the reach of her mirror."  
Snow swallowed. "She raised me for 6 years, and it was one of the few times I saw through her act. I saw just much she hated being my mother. I just..." Tears were now beginning to flow. James abandoned the checkers game and came up behind her and rubbed her shoulders.  
"I just wanted a mother...I didn't know...I didn't know what she would do." Snow was now sobbing and in embarrassment placed her head inside her arms on the table.  
Emma was suddenly torn between leaving, the meatloaf sitting like a brick in her stomach and her curiosity, which compelled her to ask a question.  
"Who would do what?" Emma asked.  
Snow looked up surprised that Emma was continuing the conversation.  
James answered for her. "Cora. Regina's mother."  
Emma nodded. This could be very useful information. "Go on."  
Snow continued. "Regina was nice, she saved my life, and I repaid her by betraying her." Henry came over with the book. He opened it to a picture of Regina standing under an apple with a man Emma had never seen before.  
"He is buried under that same apple tree." Snow spoke her voice shaking. "I told her mother that they were running away together, and she..." Snow made a fist and squeezed.  
Graham popped into Emma's mind, how he claimed he didn't have a heart and yet it looked as if the life had been squeezed of him as he died. "She killed him, by squeezing his heart." Emma spoke this outloud. Henry had thought that Regina had killed Graham that way.  
Snow looked down at the table again and sadly nodded. "That is why Regina hates me." She looked back up tentatively, trying to see if Emma thought less of her.  
Emma nodded. "That was good information to know." She knew it was a difficult thing for Snow White to talk about. Emma did not think it made her weak, just human. She swallowed. "Thanks." Apologizing and thanking people were always difficult for her too and she hoped this time it showed.  
Snow gave a weak smile.  
Emma stood up and put the dish in the sink. "While we are talking about fairy tale world pasts." Snow seemed hopeful, but Emma quickly but an end to that. "Who is the Queen of Hearts?"  
Snow seemed confused. Henry asked if she meant from Wonderland, but James, made a clearly visible face. Emma stood closer to him. "You know."  
Snow turned to look at James in confusion. James sighed. "Of course I do, and so do you."  
He turned to Emma. "Queen of Hearts, Cora, same thing."  
Emma frowned. "So the Queen of Hearts in "Wonderland" is Regina's mother? The whole off with her head bit and all?"  
James nodded. Snow added, her confusion fading. "I remember at some point when I was still a teenager, that they had some sort of falling out. It's hard to remember the details, it's all very fuzzy."  
Here Emma noticed James swallow. She stored this info away for later. Snow however continued without much pause. "But I'm sure it was mostly because of her constant presence in the castle. Her mother and father moved in when Regina married my father. Her mother was still...very controlling..." She grimaced at some memory that seemed far away. "My father proclaimed that she was exiled at some point after that and I never heard about her again."

James nodded. "I heard that they use a hat portal to seal her away...I am unfamiliar with the name Wonderland though." He paused in thought. "Why do you ask about her?"  
Emma flipped through the book until she found a picture of Regina holding a box out to the Huntsman. "Because Regina in all of her terror, is worried about her. She asked me to make a dangerous criminal board and she wants her on it."  
Henry frowned. "Her mother could get here?"  
Emma sighed. "Seems magic's reappearance is causing a lot of problems." She looked back down at the book. She flipped back to the one picture of Cora. "And if Regina is worried, then I think we should be too."

Emma couldn't sleep. She had fallen asleep out of pure exhaustion, but she had woken with a horrible nightmare. It started with Emma running around looking for a cloak and then she had transformed into a wolf. Then her own face had been put up on the dangerous criminal board. But the worse part was when Cora had appeared wearing ridiculously Disney villain looking Queen of Hearts garb, pointed at Mary Margaret, with long Snow White hair, but wearing teacher-like clothes, and said "Off with the beast's head." To which Mary Margaret or was it Snow White, had cried out that the Queen was mistaken. To which Cora sneered and said. "No, you are mistaken." She had held out a magic mirror, and Regina's face had reflected back at her. Then Snow White had transformed into a grotesque Sasquatch-like beast and had proceeded to rip her own heart out of her chest. But Emma had been the one to feel like her heart had been squeezed.  
Emma had sat up in bed quickly, almost waking Henry. He quickly rolled back over, apparently having kinder dreams. Her heart racing, Emma snuck out into the kitchen. Hoping to get a drink of water and just calm down, Emma was disappointed to find the light on. However, it was James and not Snow, so she felt a tad less suffocated. He was less pushy and more silent.  
"Can't sleep either?" James asked.  
"Nope." Emma gave a terse reply that she hoped indicated she was not looking to talk.  
"I had a nasty dream." James offered.  
Emma sighed. "Can't be worse then mine."  
James smiled, but it was somber smile. "Unless yours involved kissing the person you care about, lying dead in a coffin, and they come back to life just to strangle you."  
Emma raised an eyebrow. She imagined the field day that Archie or was it Jiminy Cricket would be having if there were having a group session.  
Emma sighed. "Guess both of ours sucked then."  
James turned and studied her. "Was yours similar?"  
Emma sighed. She had known she wasn't going to get out of talking about it. She related the dream as best and yet as detached as she could. James frowned. It was clear that Emma's dream was a tad more worrisome to him then Emma.

There was a long silence which Emma felt compelled to fill.  
"What doesn't she know?"  
James looked startled for a minute. "What do you mean?" It was a lame cover.  
Emma growled. "Cut the crap and work with me here. Snow said her memory was still fuzzy about the Queen of Hearts or Cora. Why? You seemed bothered by the topic."  
James sighed. "Have you ever kept a secret, because you knew it would destroy someone, but the longer you kept it, the more you began to worry that the person would find out anyway and everything would be worse off than if you had just had decency to bring it up before, when you first found out?"  
Emma thoughts turned immediately to Henry. "Yes." She admitted sorrowfully. "Sooner or later, Herny will learn about his father and the lie that I told will be a thorn and not a rose in that moment." Emma choked back a small sob. "But he can't know."  
James nodded. "Regina thought so too."  
Emma was very confused now. "She knows who his father is? When she didn't even know who I was?"  
James shook his head. "No, not about Henry. She thought Snow shouldn't know either."  
Emma gave a firm, don't you dare stop there look.  
James took a deep breath. "She took away her memories about her mother, Cora. From the time of her exile. That is why Snow sees only fuzzy blurs."  
Emma raised an eyebrow. "Why?"  
James shrugged. "I don't know. Regina came to talk to me, a week before our wedding. Or rather she sabotaged my coach on the road, just for a chat. She told me what she had erased. But she never told me why. At first, I was pretty angry and thought she was just out to break us up, again." He swirled his cup of water and watched it rise and fall like ocean waves. Emma did that too, when she needed to think. Though usually it was with a glass of whiskey. "But now with everything that I know of Storybrooke and now my recovered memories, I wonder if she actually if she was actually warning me. She didn't have to tell me. She could have let me figure it out on my own."  
"But..." Emma started then stopped. Snow had entered the kitchen. Emma tried not to look as though they were discussing something about her, but she was sure that James had given them away. Either that or Snow had been listening for some time.  
"Snow, you couldn't sleep either?" Emma asked light hearted, feeling tension from Snow.  
"Only two days, and you two are as thick as thieves, eh?" They could have been joyous words, and Snow's face held a smile. But the tone implied that she was pissed to have been left out.  
"Bad dreams. We were just working through them with a glass of water." Emma started.  
Snow was angry and her calm mask was quickly dropping. She paused and not looking to dump her anger on Emma, who still hadn't come to her, she turned to James. "And you aren't going to share them with me?"  
"You were sleeping calmly." James feebly answered.  
Snow steamed. "So you left me alone, after everything that has happened? So I could wonder if I had just imagined the last two days when I awoke?"  
Emma suddenly felt the desire to leave the room. Seeing them fight, well people did that, but they were...her parents. She shuddered as her mind filled in the blank. Seeing them fight, two days after having just been reunited, felt a like a bad omen of things to come.  
"I'm going back to bed." Emma announced standing up. "If you are going to fight, just keep it down and don't wake Henry."  
She almost jogged out of the room and closed the door to the spare bedroom. Henry was peacefully sleeping. Emma let out the breath she had been holding. She laid back down beside Henry, who snuggled into her chest. "I know I've disappointed you a few times, Henry." She whispered. "But I swear, I will try harder. I have to." She could still hear the stern, but quiet argument that her parents were having. There, she thought it. Without shuddering or mentally twitching. Her parents. They seemed less like royalty and were more like she thought they would be. Just as broken as she was. Which was easier to handle, but not at all comforting.


	8. An Elaborate Game of Chess

***  
Regina was awake at that same time as the Charming family, but she couldn't possibly have known or cared. The cover of darkness gave her mission the secrecy it needed. Up to the nunnery the Sisters or rather the Fairies lived, she walked. Cars were noisy and the damp air, and the long walk would clear her head. She mused over everything, but most of all, her mother. Her mother and Snow.  
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps. The walker turned on her flashlight and shone it in the direction of Regina's face.  
"Regina?" the female voice asked.  
Regina sighed, annoyed at the interruption from her task. The figure came closer.  
In the dim light of a single flashlight, Regina could see it was Belle. And she was alone.  
"Where's your bodyguard?" Regina sneered.  
Belle frowned, but ignored this. "Where are you going, so I may walk a different pathway? Our last walk together in the woods did not end well for me."  
Regina smiled. "It is not my fault that you did not succeed."  
Belle did not reply to this.  
"I'm headed up the hill to the nunnery. I have business there with someone." Regina answered her original question.  
If Belle thought that a midnight quest to talk to a nun, when you had dark magic flowing through your veins was suspicious, she said nothing.  
"Where are you headed at this time of night?" Regina asked. Belle was fool for loving such a man as Rumpelstiltskin, but she was alone at night and seemed pissed. Maybe she would be a good ally. A head-on attack on Rumpelstiltskin was pointless and probably fatal. However, having his love on her side would be powerful enough.  
"Nowhere, just walking."  
Regina smiled. "Then walk with me, I promise I won't speak until we get there."  
Belle hesitated, but finally agreed.  
The two of them walked on in silence.  
When they had reached the nunnery, Regina did not approach the front door, but began along the side of the dormitories. She began to count windows. She pulled out a hand mirror from her purse and gazed into it. "Your light, please." Regina asked Belle calmly.  
Belle handed it over, more curious than cautious. Regina angled the beam of light in the mirror, adjusting the angle until in the mirrors reflection; it showed the beam of light, shining through onto a nun's face. The brightness of the light roused her and she stared at the beam of light coming from the mirror in her room. Regina spoke into the mirror. "Natalie, we should talk."  
The young nun/ fairy looked around the room. Assured her roommates were still sleeping, she approached the mirror putting on slippers and a dressing gown as she walked. She touched the mirror and suddenly she walked right out of the hand mirror and onto the grounds outside.  
She gave a questioning look at Belle's presence, but Regina assured her that she could talk freely.  
"You swore you wouldn't ask anything of me, unless it was urgent." The fairy spoke tersely. "You know that there is little I can do."  
Regina smiled. "Oh, please Nova, spare me. You know full well that you are the most powerful fairy here."  
Nova or Natalie frowned. "Power has little to do with it."  
Regina shook her head. "Nonsense, it has everything to do with it."  
Nova shook her head adamantly. "I have yet to receive any ranking or family to supervise. That makes me...dangerous."  
Regina nodded. "Come now, you swore an oath of loyalty."  
Nova sharpened her eyes. "That was ages ago, and it was not to you." Her eyes began to search Belle's, and she could tell she was looking for an escape.  
Belle spoke trying to get to the bottom of the hedging conversation. " What is this really about Regina? What could a novice fairy really do for you?" And why do you suppose she will help you anyway?"  
Regina fished through her purse again and pulled out something small. She grabbed Nova's hand, which seemed to pain Regina and Nova, by the look of their faces. She placed the object inside of it. "Shine your light on the situation, will you Belle?" Regina's voice almost seemed to waver.  
Belle turned the light back on. Inside Nova's palm was a queen. A game piece from a chessboard. Finely carved and a bit more human looking than a normal chess piece, Belle would have recognized it from anywhere. It sat on Mr. Gold's dining room table that they had eaten around several times. It was the most confusing chess set for there were more pieces then there ought to be and the pieces were all in various shades of gray.  
This queen seemed a middle shade of gray, but it was hard to tell in the dark and without others to compare it against. Nova stared at it with a look that showed that it was clear she knew what the game piece meant. She flipped it over to the bottom and her face visibly paled.  
"When did this happen?" Nova trembled.  
Regina sighed. "The moment magic returned. The Dark Magic." She turned to look briefly at Belle. She took the piece back from Nova and handed it to Belle. "Be a dear and put that back for me when you get home. Third square from the right, fourth row."  
Belle was angrier now. "Why did I come here again? So I could put a game piece back?"  
Regina shook her head. "So you could understand." She turned back to Nova. "Think about what I have shown you. And remember who the real threat is here." She turned and walked away without another word.  
Belle stumbled after her, but Regina didn't say another word.

Back at Mr. Gold's home, she was met with an angry, very awake Rumpelstiltskin.  
"Where were you? Anyone could have hurt you, walking all alone." He bristled, but kindness was in his eyes. And real worry.  
Belle gestured to the chess set on the table. "What is that?"  
Rumpelstiltskin seemed startled that she had inquired. "A game and nothing more."  
Belle sighed. "Lies." She pulled her trump card. "Shall I ask Regina the same question?"  
"That is Storybrooke." He answered plainly, seemingly unaffected by this visually, but clearly so emotionally.  
Belle's frown made him continue. "Everyone in Storybrooke is on the game board. Or rather everyone that I know about." He picked up a knight that was light grey. "I had to add you just the other day." He turned the piece in his hand, "Sad to see that you are still angry with me."  
"Why are they all different colors?" Belle asked.  
"They are like a sort of magic mood ring." Rumpelstiltskin grinned.  
But Belle didn't get the joke.  
"They show the state of men's hearts." He placed her knight back on the board.  
"Which one is you?" Belle asked.  
Rumplestiltskin pointed to a king piece that was the darkest one on the board. "I needed magic to succeed at what must be done next. But the price was a steep one."  
Belle's anger began to fade. She smiled tenderly. "What must you do that is so important, so as to risk your heart?"  
Rumpelstiltskin gazed at the board again. "The darkness in each of these men and women's hearts, I have had a hand in placing there. I need every piece, placed just so, to heal some of those wounds." He seemed agitated as he looked at the board more closely. "Where is my fourth queen?"  
Belle opened her hand. The piece seemed darker inside the brightly lit room, then in the dark outside. She turned it over in her hand, to read the bottom, just as Nova had done.  
In thin, delicate lettering, it read:  
Snow White.


	9. A Fowl Mess

Thanks again Temo! She is called Astrid, in Storybrooke. Regina is merely addressing her by her servant name and/or her fairy name. The act is up so no need to address her as Astrid. I try to use name switching based on how the person sees them at that moment.

Here's the first part of the bomb you mentioned. :)

***  
Henry had had such a pleasant sleep, for the first time in weeks. So when he found James, his grandfather, sleeping on the couch in the living room, instead of in the bedroom with his wife, he was at first optimistic. Perhaps Mary Margaret's old bed was not comfortable for two people.  
He sat at the kitchen counter, where a box of cereal had been left out. Emma had gone into work early and the kitchen showed that Snow had not woken yet. Henry got out another bowl and poured himself a bowl. Opening the fridge for milk, he went about tending to himself. Then he had a great thought. He could make breakfast for his grandparents. He searched for something easy, like eggs and toast.

But nothing went right. While the eggs were cooking, the toaster jammed. While he was trying to get the toast out of the toaster, the eggs began to burn. Henry unplugged the toaster and ran to the stove. James was up, the burning smell having awoken him. The smoke alarm sounded and he rushed to get a chair to shut it up.  
"What on earth is going on?" Snow demanded, coming out of her bedroom.  
"I was making you breakfast, but the toaster wouldn't give back the toast and then the eggs began to burn..." Henry started.  
"Emma broke the toaster. It hasn't worked right since." Snow explained, but her demeanor was anything but compassionate. "You could have burnt the place down, trying to cook by yourself." Her voice was harsh and steely.  
Henry rushed to give her a hug, to show his sorrow, and in his haste the bowl of cereal he had poured fell to the floor.  
"Now we need a broom too." Snow complained.  
Henry got down on the floor and began to pick up the pieces by hand. As he did so, the tension in the air came to a head and he began to sob.  
"What is the matter with you?" James yelled. "He's a kid, and he loves you." He grabbed Snow's arm a bit forcefully, not out of anger, but of anxiety.  
The look in Snow's eyes softened. "I don't... know." She started. James let go of her arm. The confusion and the panic in her eyes vanished. "Nothing is wrong, except this kitchen."  
James grabbed both of her shoulders, gently, but firmly. Her eyes softened again. She glanced down at Henry who was wiping his tears. "Oh, my gosh, Henry." She began to move towards him, but James held her back. "Don't you'll make it worse."  
Snow furrowed her eyebrows. "What will?"

James turned to Henry. "Henry, where is Emma?"  
Henry brightened at the mention of Emma. "Probably at the sheriff's office. She is hanging the dangerous criminal board today, with Rumpelstiltskin and the Evil Queen on it." Then seeing that James looked deadly serious, he frowned. "Why?"  
James sighed. "Henry, I'm going to go get her. You need to hold onto Snow here, until I get back."  
Snow sensed the man she love's terror and panic. "What's wrong with me?" Snow asked, tears starting to flow. Henry suddenly went from wounded to protective. He nodded and embraced Snow in a hug.  
James sadly smiled. "I guess 28 years without the burden, eliminated all the tolerance you had built up over the years. And I know you used it yesterday, in the jail."  
Snow frowned. "I don't understand. I know it's been 28 years since we got here, but..."  
James let go of her shoulders. The hurt and confusion stayed. Henry was helping. Good.  
James stroked her face lovingly, "I will explain everything, but we need Emma. She ought to understand what I will tell you too, and perhaps we can think of something together."  
James took one last look, worried that it might be the last time Snow looked at him lovingly. He could feel it in his bones that everything was about to explode. That this was only the tip of the iceberg.

When Emma was not to be found at the office, James hesitated. Standing in the street, dressed in only his boxers and a robe, a few people were starting to stare.  
He swallowed, took a deep breath and tried not to think about the other people in the town square. And then he headed the last place he wanted to go.  
He cinched up the robe strings, as he passed by the apple tree, which looked healthy again, and knocked on Regina's door.  
If Regina was thinking something dirty about his state of dress, she didn't say anything. "How may I help you...James." She drawled.

Emma was in a panic. She had finished hanging up the board an hour ago, when Rose or was it Red that she preferred, had approached her. Her wounds looked okay, her bandages clean and all, but Emma was sure she was supposed to still be in the hospital.  
"What are you doing walking around? You just had surgery." Emma barked, but the worry clear.  
Rose didn't even comment on that. "Snow Dark."  
Emma blinked. Nothing even processed. "Huh?"  
Rose started again. "I was thinking about everything that I once knew and everything I know now, in all my spare time lying in bed. Snow Dark."  
Emma sighed. "What?"  
Rose continued. "When Snow first heard that James was marrying Abigail, and his father, well King George, told her that if she didn't break things off with him, then he would kill James, she made a deal with Rumpelstiltskin. To forget him, to avoid a lifetime of grief."  
Emma nodded, trying to put pieces together. "And?"  
Rose continued. "She lost not only her love for James, but her love in general. She began to hate everything, to pick fights with her friends. Grumpy, once loving called that period of time Snow Dark."

Emma frowned. "Why is this important? Clearly something happened to return her love to her heart. True love's kiss, perhaps?"  
Rose sighed. "Yes, yes. But the thing that had me worried this morning in bed, was Rumpelstiltskin apparently gave her a bow that always hits it's firer's intended mark. She ran off to hunt down Regina, but the when she shot the arrow it hit James. He said he was trying to stop her, but I know about magic, much better than he does. If the arrow had intended to hit Regina, then it would have done so, regardless of his physical body being in the way."  
Emma took a deep breath. Her patience in general was shot and now her sanity was threatening to leave her too. "Get to the point. What is the real issue here?"  
Rose looked down at the ground. "If she had lost all the love in her heart and directed her hatred towards Regina, why would the arrow have hit him? But more importantly, why didn't he die?"  
Emma held up a hand in frustration. "Why are you asking me, is the real question here."

Rose steadied and raised her shoulders. "The wolf in me, it always goes for the biggest threat. It thrills in the challenge." She said this half with pride and half in disgust. "Snow showed me how to turn that to use on a battlefield." Rose swallowed. "But I never told her why I never let her accompany me, to put the cloak back on me."  
Rose paused and rubbed her shoulder. "It always considered her, the biggest threat. The wolf aims to please her out of respect, but longs for the chance to tear her to shreds."

Emma was wishing she had stayed in bed with Henry, just kept sleeping through today. Her mind was screaming with overload, but her stomach and perhaps even her heart were aching.  
"Granny told me to stop worrying my head over such things, but then I saw her talking to the Blue Fairy later. And I know it wasn't about my health." Rose interrupted Emma's growing ill feeling. "So I figured you should know too."  
Emma's throat was dry and her voice cracked as she tried to speak. "What am I supposed to do with this information?"  
Rose shrugged. "I just didn't want you to be taken by surprise with anything today."

This was already a surprise, but Emma nodded, her mind elsewhere. She jogged off, leaving Rose to wander back to her hospital bed.  
If she had stayed a minute more, she would have run into James.

Emma threw open the door to her apartment. She felt she fumbled forever with the key and then it turned out to be unlocked. Strange.  
Inside the burnt eggs and toaster greeted her. The kitchen was filled with dissipating smoke and cereal pebbles were all over the floor. Instinctively making sure the stove was off, Emma then screamed. "Henry."  
No answer. "James."  
Emma was beginning to panic.  
"Snow White" She yelled a bit more anxious.  
Emma opened every door and looked frantically for some clue as to what had happened. She grabbed her tiny swan medal that she was wearing this morning, as though fingering it would make her think better.

"Hello" An unfamiliar voice greeted her from the doorway into the apartment.  
"You seem to be having a bad day, maybe I can help you?" The voice continued.  
Emma turned. Then her stomach turned. In a bright red, elegant ball gown, with a veil, that she was removing from her face stood what looked to be the woman straight off the dangerous criminal board.  
Emma's brain turned to ploys and graces. "I can see you are a woman of power. I'm sure that you have better things to worry about then my troubles."  
The Queen smiled, but it was a cruel and terrifying smile. It reminded Emma of Regina. This had to be Cora. "My dear, I always worry about my children. They need to be able to be the best they can be."  
Emma frowned. The word children threw her off. "Do...I know you?"  
The regal, but frightening woman held out her hand. "I'm the Queen of Hearts."  
Emma tried to give a gracious smile. She recoiled at the idea of what touching her could do, but she thought it best not to anger her with cold indifference. "Miss Swan."  
As they shook hands, a strong magical jolt passed between them.  
The woman smiled even wider. She flipped her left wrist over and tattooed onto the underside was a solid black swan, its wings open in flight. It's wings flapped, proving that it was indeed a magical marking. "Clearly a white one." She added looking and studying Emma's face. She continued to hold Emma's hand tightly. "An untrained fowl at that." The Queen of Hearts smiled. "We can fix that. I do love a good challenge."

Emma's thoughts went to Red's talk about the wolf inside of her that morning. She tried to pull away. But the Queen's grasp was firm.  
"Emma Swan, daughter of Snow White and the lowly shepherd boy, who became king. You have had much grief in this life. I know everything there is know about you. Poor abandoned soul, shifted from house to house and guardian to guardian. Ex-jail bird and unwed mother."  
How she knew these things, Emma couldn't guess, but she closed her eyes, ready to shift her focus to trying anything magical. Anything.

"You have much potential for magic, which is rawest and most powerful when it has not chosen sides. Soon you will join me." The Queen of Hearts paused.  
Emma took the opportunity to try mentally pushing against her. Didn't that work in fantasy novels or something?  
In must have done something, for she felt the Queen's grasp lessen slightly in surprise.  
"You tell my daughter that the time for games isn't over. It's just begun. She should decide what side to stand on."

Emma felt her arm melting and she opened her eyes. Pain shot through her and she felt her entire being turn in and out on itself. When he vision clearer, she was on the ground. She tried to move her legs, but they felt short and almost cut off. She tried to speak and a clear "Honk" erupted. She lifted her arms, but met with wings and feathers.

She was a swan. A real life, feathers and long neck swan.

Panic really set in and she flapped into the door frame.  
The Queen picked her up and Emma struggled to loosen the woman's grip on her. The Queen merely took her down the stairs and threw her into the sky.


	10. Tense Alliances and Wounded Pride

Just for Temo, my main reviewer. I expect the Queen of Hearts to be Cora also, why else would they cover her face. If she was nobody we knew otherwise, there would be no need.

***  
Emma flapped furiously, swerving this way and that. Spotting Regina's home, she stopped flapping and then started and then stopped. As much as she couldn't stand Regina, Regina had magic. And perhaps her mother issues, which Emma knew she must have, would cause her to at least put her back to being human.

She tried to aim for the apple tree instead of the ground, but she flew right through it, taking off a few feathers, and crashed with a horrible noise, into the open dining room window and across Regina's table.  
Regina jumped up in surprise and so did her guest. Emma moaned in pain and embarrassment, but all that came out was a honk. A dejected, wounded noise, instead of a glorious trumpet.  
"Oh, my gosh," the guest was the first to speak. Emma recognized the voice. She turned to see James, in boxers and a robe, cleaning her off. She tried to stand up, but her wings kept getting in the way. She bit him and he backed off.  
She turned to face Regina, trying not to think about what James, her father, was doing here. Regina's face seemed pale and tired, so Emma figured they were not having a pleasant chat. Which made her want to take back the bite.  
"Emma?" Regina asked awkwardly. She picked up a piece of metal on a chain. Emma's swan medal.  
Emma gave a dejected honk. She tried to flip onto her feet.  
James reached for her again and this time she let him help her. Everything hurt and her vision had spots in it.

Regina sighed and rubbed her hand across the top of Emma's swan head and down her neck. Everything seemed to get smaller and pain once more clouded her vision. She gripped her head to find hair there instead of feathers. Then her world went navy blue.  
Regina had thrown James' navy, bathrobe, over her.  
Emma wrapped it around her now naked form. Emma was sure this was more embarrassing than any morning after a one night stand, she had ever had.  
James looked equally as uncomfortable, standing in just his boxers and an undershirt.  
Regina's sympathetic look quickly faded.  
"What is going on?" She looked intense, but worried.  
Emma tried to stand and get off the table, but ended up crashing to the floor.  
"Your psychopath of a mother, did this to me." Emma moaned, her wounded pride getting the best of her.  
Regina stiffened.  
Emma held her head. "She said to say something about a game and picking sides."

Regina seemed about to say something angry, when the doorbell rang. Followed by a frantic knocking.  
Regina growled and opened the door. It was Snow. Around her shoulder was Henry who looked rather pale and exhausted. "Something's wrong with him and James said he was looking for Emma and I didn't know..."  
Regina ripped Henry off of Snow and struggled to set him on the couch.  
Snow's demeanor changed instantly from worried and concerned, to angry and confused. "What the hell is going on here?" She looked from Regina to Emma in a bathrobe and James in his boxers and shirt.  
James reached out to touch her, but she batted him off. "Don't touch me."  
Emma bent down to fuss with Henry, who was starting to speak. "I tried to hold her hand as long as I could, but..."  
Regina stood apart from Henry, but seemed concerned nonetheless. "You have been holding her hand since early this morning?"  
Henry weakly nodded.

Snow entered the house, coming through the doorway. "You should see the mess in the kitchen too."  
Regina gave her sharp look over. She turned to James. "You were right. It just blew right in and made its home again."  
Then she turned from concerned into harsh. "Out." She pointed to the door. "Out both of you." She turned on Emma. "You too." A hint of a magical aura formed around her and James took the hint. They left, James, practically pushing Snow out the door with much speed, Snow asking. "What is going on here? with a much kinder tone and much confusion.  
Regina turned to Emma who was trying to pick up Henry. "He stays."  
Emma turned to protest, but her words died in her mouth.

She saw the mess on the dining room table. A mental picture of her crash played in her head. Her head, which still hurt as well as her right shoulder. If that was Cora's idea of a message, then Cora was truly worse then Regina, and she had no defenses. Henry was completely unprotected. For now.  
Emma turned back and bent down to look at Henry. Color seemed to be coming back into him and his breathing was calmer.  
Henry pulled a feather from Emma's hair. "Where is this from?"  
Emma sighed. "I was a bird a little while ago. A swan."  
Henry's eyes widened in excitement. "How cool."  
Emma gave a half smile. "Couldn't fly straight to save my life." She gestured toward the table.  
Henry sighed weakly. "I missed the dragon and now I missed you being a swan."  
Emma shook her head. "Good thing too, because it meant you also missed the Queen of Hearts."  
Henry tried to sit. "Was she really scary?"  
Emma glanced around to see if Regina was listening. Regina was watching them out of the corner of her eye, looking out the window with the other. She nodded." Much scarier then Regina. So if she wants you to stay right here, I figure that is best for your safety. If I'm going to protect you, I have to learn how to fly first."  
Henry surprisingly didn't protest. Perhaps he understood the level of uncertain danger. And he was only ten, Emma sighed internally, 10 year old's shouldn't have this level of worry and responsibility. Emma stroked his hair, then teasingly kissed his forehead. Right where she had just done so to bring him back to life not three days prior. Emma swallowed her panic, trying not to remember how much insanity had gone down since then. She gave Henry a concerned smile. "I love you, you know that, right?"

Henry beamed. "Of course, and I love you too." Emma heart gave a small flutter and she smiled.

Emma turned to walk out the door and she addressed Regina. "Take care of him. You know your mother best, so for now I won't fight you. We are allies in this one issue, Henry, so I expect you will do your best to protect him."

Regina gave a curt nod. "I do know my mother. You are going to have to know a lot more then how to fly."  
Her words could have been insulting in tone, but they were not. Regina seemed tense. "If you see my mother again before I do, tell her I'm on my own side. Not yours, not hers, not Rumplestiltskin's. Mine." Her eyes lit up, looking fierce and proud again. Emma nodded.

"I hope you see her first." Emma cracked a weak smile.


	11. Two trained monkeys

Thanks again Temo! Snow and Henry were wondering around looking for help. Yep you are correct, but think of it more as energy drain.

Flashback time!

***  
Regina was tending the tree, her apple tree. She had brought back a branch that had fallen off of the one on her father's estate, when she visited the place for the last of her things. She and the royal gardener, who was well aware of how miserable the queen was in her new marriage, and was taking full advantage of her desire for escape, had grafted the tree branch onto a tree in the courtyard. It was now growing apples, which pleased Regina.  
Her mother knew of the affair, but had said nothing more then a tense warning about messing things up, and then proceeded to tell her how to time her dalliances around her monthly cycle, so as not to give herself away, by conceiving children.  
This of course, made Regina despise her even more, but she followed her advice.

Regina plucked an apple from the tree. Taking a bite, she savored the crunch. 13-year-old Snow interrupted her moment of serenity.  
"Isn't it funny how you can graft a single branch from another tree and transform a useless old oak tree into a fruit tree." Snow babbled. Regina sighed. She put on a smile.  
"Even the smallest of things, can transform a person." Regina replied. She said it with a smile, but an angry tone was present.  
Snow raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment on the tone. "I was talking about the tree."  
Regina forced another taunt smile. "The same applies to people."

Snow frowned, not understanding. "So can I try one?"  
Regina nodded. She handed the apple she was eating to Snow. She wasn't enjoying it now anyway.  
"I don't want the one you bit off of already." Snow complained.  
Regina's emotional state was already off before she came to the garden, which is why she had come, and now her patience was shot. "Fairies, you can be so bratty."  
Snow blinked. She looked like she had never been openly insulted for anything before. She was taken by surprise and looked a little wounded.

"She is just trying to share, Snow White. That is what people who care about each other do. They share things with each other." Cora had apparently been in the garden, perhaps just around the bushes. Regina sighed. So much for sanity restoration. Though she was glad her mother had softened the blow. She was feeling frazzled and wasn't sure she could have recovered so quickly.  
Snow nodded. "Oh, I didn't think about that."  
"That's okay, my dear." Cora crooned. "Go ahead and take a bite, so you can tell my daughter, what you think of her hard work."  
Snow bit the apple. The apple was really good, Regina knew this, and Snow's face lit up. "It's the best apple I have ever tasted."  
Regina gave a weak smile.

Cora gave a broad smile. "It's from our tree back at our old house. Regina loved standing under that tree and eating its apples." She gave Regina a cruel smile, that said she knew what really happened under the tree other then apple eating.  
"Let's take leave of my daughter, Snow. Let her enjoy her small pleasure underneath her new tree. I want to show you something." Cora turned back to Snow. "Perhaps she will feel better later."  
Snow frowned, but this time in worry. "She isn't feeling well? She isn't really sick, I hope."  
Cora put her arm around her shoulder. "Nothing a few moments of silence and a reality check won't fix."  
Snow didn't ask what she meant and looked over her shoulder at Regina who was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even smile.  
Snow frowned. "Are we sure, we should leave her all alone?"  
Cora smiled tenderly. "Of course, mothers always know what's best for their daughters. Come let me show you a really neat trick."  
Snow happily followed her, leaving Regina to sit at the bench beneath the tree, her tree, and weep.  
When the gardener came by, Regina told him to go away.

Regina figured she must have been there for at least an hour before she stopped crying.  
She was just getting up when Snow came back. She gave her a shoulder hug and then  
she seemed to survey Regina, trying to gauge her emotional state.  
"Want to see what your mother taught me?" Snow asked cautiously.  
Regina looked up. She tried to push past her thoughts for a smile. Snow was trying to cheer her up at least. "Sure."  
Snow picked up a rock from the garden wall. A fist sized rock. Putting it in Regina's hand, she then stroked it with her fingers, closing her eyes.  
The rock transformed into an apple. A dark red apple, not like the apples on Regina's tree.  
Regina could feel it's dark magic. She had felt her mother use it on her enough times, to feel the familiar crawling sensation. Regina paled.

"What..how...?" Was all she managed.  
Snow smiled. "Your mother taught me, but I'm not going to share. A true magician never reveals his secrets, right?"  
Regina bit back the urge to remark on that last statement. "What does it do?" She asked, fear settling into the pit of her stomach.  
Snow frowned. "Do? It's an apple. Not a trained monkey."  
Regina ignored this. She closed her eyes and tried to read the magic radiating off of the apple. It seemed soothing, like sleeping. It was a sleeping spell. A forgetting spell.  
Regina shuddered.  
"Well try it, it should taste just like a real one. I tried your mom's last one. Though hers was supposed to taste like chocolate apples. It was really good. " Snow babbled on.

Regina froze. Snow was doing dark magic. Something that Regina couldn't do. She had tried once in vengeance, to imitate her mother's magic, but had been unsuccessful. Her father caught her, and told her that you needed to be born with dark magic or obtain in from someone with dark magic, for it to work. He also told her to be glad that she hadn't received any. It brings many enemies and much suffering. Regina had growled that she was already suffering. But she had not pursued magic. Regina knew things could always be worse.

Regina looked up at Snow for the first time in real fear. Snow sensed this. "Your mother said it would help you not feel sad anymore."  
Regina tightened her grip on the apple. "Snow, this is dark magic. What did my mother do to you?"  
Snow frowned. "What? Nothing, I just learned a trick, that's all." Panic was rising in her voice. Fear.

Good.  
Regina grabbed her arm. "My mother is not a nice person. Do you understand? If she did something to you, you would tell me, right? I am your mother after all." She rarely pulled this card with Snow, because she hated being her mother, but now she was frightened and needed Snow to be too.  
Snow began to tremble. "She didn't do anything to me...she said I was a natural... I didn't know it was bad, I swear..." Snow's lip quivered. "Does this make me a bad person?"

Regina swallowed. "No." She meant it too. If Snow was, then so was she. She couldn't stand Snow, but apparently they were in this misery together. Nobody deserved a mother like Cora.  
Regina had swirling questions in her head. She had to get to the bottom of this. Even if she hated Snow, she would be hanged if she was going to let her mother turn her into some sort of trained monkey. Unknowingly doing dark magic for her twisted plans.  
Regina looked Snow in the eye. "I'm going to talk to your father, no you aren't in trouble..." She added quickly seeing Snow's doe eyes. "We will sort this out. But for now, no more tricks."  
Snow nodded, still trembling.  
"Now go have fun, pretend this didn't happen. We will talk again later." Regina added.  
Snow ran away out into the gardens, tense and trembling.  
King Leopold was definitely going to get grilled. He had a lot of explaining to do. And maybe he could get her mother expelled. Regina had heard that he used a hat makers services to lock away his most dangerous criminals. Regina tried not to get her hopes up as she approached the library where she knew the king was reading.


	12. Skeletons in the Closet

Good second theory Temo, I totally didn't think about that, but I love the idea of a mentally imprisoned King Leopold. Too bad I didn't go that direction. :)

***  
Emma was back to sitting in the sheriff's office. Not because it was any safer, but because it gave James and her a place to talk, where Snow would not likely go. Snow had stormed off the moment James had stopped pushing her out the door and Emma had pulled James away from chasing after her. "We need to talk."

The sheriff's office also had a change of clothes there.  
When Emma emerged from the bathroom wearing her usual clothes again, she handed the robe back to her father.  
He barely noticed, seeming zombie-like. "Well?" Emma began, trying to encourage some life out of him. Bring him out of his thoughts. "You have a lot of story to tell."  
James looked up, the pain clearly visible on his face.  
Emma smiled as gently as she could manage.  
"You want to know what Regina told me." James sighed.  
Emma nodded. "I think at this point, bad news would be better than no news and clueless."  
James gave a cynical smile, something she had not seen him do yet as James or as David.  
"I wish I felt the same."  
But then he obliged. "I suppose that I should start with Regina's explanation combined with Snow's stories about her own mom."

James took a deep breath and he began.  
"Margaret White was born a baker's daughter in King Leopold's kingdom. The king would tour his villages to ensure his people were doing well and hear any complaints. It was what his parents did and the citizens of his realm loved and cherished them. He liked to visit this one village more frequently however, because there was a certain girl."  
James gave a smile that said he understood the sentiment. Emma gave a small laugh and encouraged him on again.  
"When she was of age, he proposed to her and she accepted. Regina said that King Leopold knew she didn't feel the same as he did, but that he had said she grew to love him."  
"So, not true love?" Emma asked.  
James shook his head. "Not necessarily, True love usually isn't right away. Love at first sight can be true love, but usually it isn't."  
Emma frowned. "What about you and Snow?"  
James shook his head and smiled. "Not at all, my first thought was how much I couldn't stand her.  
Emma nodded and smiled. "Because she stole your mother's ring?" That part was in the storybook.  
James laughed. "That and the fact that she managed to best me. A girl thief and not one trained from birth at that, she was a runaway princess. She was always making snarky comments and pushing my buttons."  
He smiled at some distant memory.

Then he seemed to remember his purpose. "Right, the story."

"After years of trying to conceive an heir, both of them reaching middle age, they began to despair. In secret, Margaret White called for Rumpelstiltskin."  
"Are everyone's problems here because they were stupid enough to make a deal?" Emma asked.  
"Hang on, Rumpelstiltskin didn't agree to help her." James cut her off.  
Emma frowned. "Why not?"  
James sighed. "She wanted him to help her conceive. He told her creating life and bringing back the dead were out of his reach. He stated he could find her a child, but she wouldn't be able to have one. He told her he wouldn't steal a baby or anything, he always traded fairly. She relented saying that he could start looking, but no deal yet."  
"She seems smart. Making sure he plays fair before making a bargain." Emma commented.

James smiled at this. "Rumplestiltskin came back with a picture. It was a girl of about three. He said that the girl's mother owed him in a previous bargain and he knew that Margaret would take good care of the little girl."  
Emma paled.  
"What?" James looked worried.  
Emma swallowed. "I have an outstanding debt with Rumpelstiltskin." She closed her eyes. "And now with magic and Cora running around, I'm realizing just how dangerous this is."

James frowned. He stood up and gave her a hug. Emma breathed in his smell. It smelled like wool and sun-baked fields, even now. It was a scent that seemed calming and comforting. A bit like her wool blanket with her name on it. But now was not the time to discuss this.  
She let him hold her for a few more seconds. "Thanks."  
James sighed and smiled tenderly. "I only wish I could have done this more."

Emma gave a half smile and let go. Sighing deeply, she asked him to continue. James sat down on her desk with a heavy sigh. "Well the little girl didn't work out for some reason, Regina didn't know why. Several years went by and the king became ill. He recovered, but this made Queen Margaret's worry about an heir even more pronounced. It seems that the king's distant relative that was to take the throne when he passed came forward during the king's illness and he was a right evil person. This time she approached an old friend, whom she heard had acquired magical powers."  
"Cora." Emma stated. Things were starting to unfold in a predicable manner.

James nodded. "Cora had lived in the same village when they were growing up and the two had been friendly. Cora agreed to help her, but that it was going to be difficult. She took three drops of blood from Snow's mother, and a lock of Regina's hair and then used the snow on the ground outside."  
Emma frowned. "Snow White is partially composed of the Evil Queen? Of Regina?"  
James sighed. "Yes, and there was an ulterior motive for that. The blood assured that Snow could never willingly harm her mother or any of her own descendants. The hair assured that Snow could not willing harm Cora, Regina or any of Regina's descendants. But it also worked the other way. Cora, Regina and Snow's mother, etc. could not willingly harm Snow."  
Emma tried to process this. "Why would she want that? And why would she be afraid that Snow would harm her or her daughter?"

James looked down at the ground. Emma could feel the sorrow in his stance. "This is the real reason, you needed to hear this story." He took a deep breath. "Snow was created with dark magic. That means that she has dark powers in her veins. Cora wanted to insure that Snow would never use them against her."

Emma tried to reconcile this dark image of Snow White, with the image of Mary Margaret, of her mother and with what she had seen and heard about Regina and Cora. "And Cora thought she would? Hurt her?"  
"Snow was made of dark magic, so yes. She knew that if she felt threatened, if she knew what she could do, then she would."  
Emma thought about the jolt of magic in the jail and paled.  
"But Snow doesn't know, does she? That is what Regina erased from her mind. The knowledge of her abilities." Emma was beginning to see where this was going. "If she didn't remember that she had them, she wouldn't use them."

James nodded, but he was still tense. There was still more, Emma knew that there was more.  
"Snow's mother, didn't realize, the full extent of what Cora had done, until she was pregnant. Margaret began to get ill, not the physical kind, but the emotional kind. When she talked with the Blue Fairy, when Leopold began to worry when she wouldn't get out of bed, the Blue Fairy panicked. She told Snow's mother that Rumpelstiltskin may be evil, but he had sense. A child born of pure dark magic would have no heart, no soul. Cora had every right to desire protection from that."  
Emma paled and her eyes widened. "But she doesn't seem like that. She is sweet and kind, compassionate..."  
James nodded. "Yes, because Margaret couldn't live with the thought she was releasing a monster into the world. Since the deed was already done, Rumpelstiltskin agreed to help her with one last deal. Snow would be born with a heart. Her mother's heart. This would prevent her from being an unholy terror and would balance out the darkness. The moment Snow left her womb, she took her mother's heart with her."

Emma shivered. She had this mental image of herself holding Henry in the jail hospital, giving him away, to help balance out the darkness and anger in her own heart. Of course, it hadn't really worked that way. Henry wasn't a bit like his father. Henry was like the parts of her heart that felt missing. And Henry had ended up here. And longer they stayed, the more worried Emma became. "What is Snow Dark?"

James frowned. "I hate Grumpy calling her that. He doesn't know, I think, the amount of the story that I do, or perhaps he wouldn't use the term so endearingly. When Snow thought I was to marry another, she took a potion from Rumpelstiltskin to forget her love for me. But it made her forget all of her love. She was nasty, hot tempered, vengeful, and was out to murder Regina."

Emma frowned. She knew the rest of the story, from their earlier conversation and the storybook. True love had fixed the potion's effects. Emma however, did not voice her worries that were circling her head, placed there by Red that same morning. She turned her thoughts to the potion.  
"Why would Rumpelstiltskin do that, if he knew all about her dangerous abilities? What had he to gain from reversing his deal?" Emma rubbed her forehead, a headache building.  
James shrugged. "Who knows, he just said he was, invested in her future."  
Emma frowned. "Maybe we should pay him a visit."


	13. Costly Allegiance

Yay! Temo, my devoted reviewer. You are correct, but that won't be verified til much later. Good guess.

Snow's mother died in childbirth in Grimm. I was for sure the same had been said in OUAT. Hmm. Am I wrong?

Don't worry, my user name is Redemption by Fire for a reason. Happy endings, like in fairytales must be suffered for. Otherwise it wouldn't be so sweet. :)

***  
Someone else however, was paying Rumpelstiltskin a visit.  
"Cora. How are you?" Rumpelstiltskin beamed. He waved her in like he was greeting an old friend. Only Belle, who made herself scarce, had noticed that he had sensed her coming and had shooed her away. That meant he was worried.  
"Still the coward, I see." Cora mused looking around the shop. "Keeping anything magical around you, even when magic was absent. And hiding your lovely mistress away from me like one hides a china set inside a cabinet."  
Rumpelstiltskin swallowed slightly. She was baiting him. He was a coward, he always had been, but sometimes it had served him well. But only sometimes. Now, he must still be a coward, at least outwardly.  
"She is fragile, like a china set." He knew Belle was anything but, and hoped she couldn't hear him. "One doesn't let others play with their good china." He even gave a slight tremble for effect.  
Cora smiled. "Well, I have no business with her. So unless she interferes, I have nothing to teach her."  
She said teach in a way that made it clear that it was a threat.  
"What is your business with me then, your majesty?" Rumpelstiltskin nodded.  
Cora fingered the glass unicorn mobile hanging by her head. The Charming's mobile.  
"My daughter was promised happiness here in this new world. But it seems that she has lost everything that she cared about. I hope that our bargain, will not suffer the same way."  
Rumpelstiltskin pretended to be bristled. "Any suffering that your daughter has, is of her own doing. We are the only person who can destroy our own happiness."  
Cora turned and her eyes were narrowed. She looked about ready to say something about their history, but she deflected. "Did you or did you not bring Henry here?"  
Rumpelstiltskin nodded. "I did. She asked for a child. I procured one the only way I still could. Legally."  
"The child of the woman, who you wrote into the spell as a magical backdoor? That hardly seems unintentional." Cora's voice was sweet, but her eyes were hard.  
Rumpelstiltskin sighed. "I'm a coward, you said so yourself. I like to keep plans B-Z available, if A doesn't immediately pan out." This was true, but it was not the whole truth. Every chess player knew that plans were not formed before the game, when your opponent was unpredictable.  
Cora accepted this. "What letter plan was me coming here? You must be pretty desperate to let me in here."  
"When everyone remembered their pasts, but we were not transported back, I knew something must have gone wrong. I brought magic back to work on fixing that. You were an unavoidable arrival."  
Cora took a beer stein from the counter. Ironically, the one that Snow White had broken and the replaced and flung it at Rumpelstiltskin. It shattered on the wall. "Lies. You don't want to go back. You want out. You want what you have lost."  
Rumpelstiltskin picked up a broom and began to clean the mess.  
Cora was irritated by his calm. She grabbed the broom. "Listen to me, manikin. I want a deal. My daughter deserves the allegiance of the child she raised, not his pitiful, broken doll of a mother, who is still playing pretend with that which she gave away. I want him to obey Regina and myself. I want his allegiance."  
Rumpelstiltskin sighed. "It's going to cost you."  
"What is the price?" Cora demanded.  
"I'll think of something." Rumpelstiltskin shrugged.  
"No open ended deals."  
Rumpelstiltskin nodded. "Emma owes me something that she has not paid up yet."  
"No. You can't trick me into an open-ended deal. I won't agree to what I don't know." Cora glared.  
Rumpelstiltskin sighed. "I want the heart that Regina is keeping in box 7."  
He picked up the ledger on his desk. In the back, was a list of every box in the tomb that Regina kept. He pointed to number 7.  
Cora smiled. "That's it? Deal." She walked out of the shop, smile on her face.  
Rumpelstiltskin bent down and began to clean the floor again.  
Belle emerged, tense and wary. "You were right, she went for it."  
A grin spread over Rumpelstiltskin's face. "She has no idea what I can do with that."


	14. Something you can't take back

Rumple always has a plan...sometimes that's good, sometimes that's bad. :)

Thanks again, for all the reviews.

***  
Emma Swan was soon knocking on a different door. Rumplestiltskin had refused to speak with her about plans, until she had been to see the Blue Fairy. "You must be trained. If they think you worthy and strong enough to fight, then we will talk strategy." Rumpelstiltskin had said. And James had stayed with him, to discuss plans, which made it seem even more unfair.

So Emma grumpily was banging on the knocker at the nunnery. An unfamiliar sister greeted her. She went from curious to trembling. "Mother." She yelled. "It's the savior."  
The Mother Superior/ Blue Fairy was at the door very quickly, probably with magic.  
"Daisy, we do not address her as such, and we do not cower in her presence. Her powers do make her dangerous, but we should not fear her." The fairy scolded.  
The young novice nodded and bowed out.  
"I'm sure that my powers are far from dangerous, considering that I don't even know how to use them." Emma offered.  
"That is precisely why they are dangerous." The Blue Fairy corrected.

She led the way into a chapel. Emma stared at the really detailed and bloody crucifix hanging on the wall. "This world has a God. I left him up there because I think he teaches my fairies what they need to know." The Blue Fairy remarking seeing Emma staring.  
"How to be really afraid of dying painfully?" Emma cynically quipped.  
The Blue Fairy shook her head. "I don't give away answers. When a fairy comes to me and explains to me the wisdom I want to hear about this God, then I will know who shall succeed me, if anything were to happen."  
Emma sighed. The other fairies were sitting in their nun habits, watching their conversation from the pews. The looked away when they saw Emma watching them. "Hope you don't die soon." Emma quipped again.

The Blue Fairy smiled. "You have a sense of humor. Cynical at best, but humor all the same. I like that about you. This will make things easier for you in the coming test of wills and hearts."

The Blue Fairy dismissed the others. She cleared a few pews making a circle in the center of the room with magic. "First, I shall test your defenses."  
Before Emma could react, the fairy had used magic to penetrate her mind. Images of sobbing, of rebelling against various foster parents, of underage drinking, of heartless flings in the back of cars, flashed before Emma's mind. She tried to push them all down. She quickly succeeded. "Those were private."  
"Cora won't consider it so. Those were the things that I found as weak points, as fissures. I'm sure there are more, but I just searched for surface ones."  
Emma growled. "Stay out."  
"Then stop me."

Once again, images flashed before Emma's mind. Lying on her jail cot feeling her growing stomach, torching a garage, throwing her foster mother's things out a window. Emma pushed back firmly and the fairy was gone from her mind, much quicker.  
"You must resist the penetration. Any information is fuel for the fire." The fairy cautioned. "You have suffered much. Try to think of something pleasant, and I will try to dig again."

Emma thought about her wish on that candle, when Henry knocked on her door. She thought of every little smile he gave her. These images were replaced by images of a flash of the woods, a small boy and girl, the boy sobbing over the dead little girl. But this quickly faded.  
"That wasn't my memory." Emma stated.  
"I know. That was mine." The Fairy replied. "You didn't attempt to attack my mind, but I did yours, and apparently Henry's arrival was powerful enough to allow you to block me with my own past."  
The Blue Fairy rolled her neck in a circle. "Your defenses are strong, but that is not surprising. You are well guarded in everything. But it is the physical matter that I wonder about."  
Suddenly, Emma was on the ground. The fairy created a cage that came forth from the carpet. Emma stood and rattled the bars. "Hey, what is the meaning of this?"  
"Get out." the Blue Fairy replied, her eyes flashing a challenge.  
Emma tried rattling the bars, tried to squeeze between them and ran full force into them.  
"Use magic."  
"How?" Emma wailed. "You haven't taught me."  
The fairy smiled. "Everyone responds differently, there is no one way to teach magic. It must come naturally to you." She walked off.  
"Hey, wait. Where are you going?" Emma yelled.

Emma tried imagining burning thru the bars. She tried grabbing them and pretending her hands were molten lava, but that only succeeded in make her hands hurt.  
Emma tried for hours, trying everything she could think of from movies or books she had read, before conceding and sitting down to fume. A novice brought in glass of water after several hours.

"Does she torture all of you this way?" Emma growled.  
The new fairy shook her head. "Most of us were born fairies, magic comes easy."  
Emma sensed that this fairy did not include herself in the 'us'.  
"But, you were not." Emma sighed. "How did you do it?"  
"I didn't, I'm still a novice. I use to transport fairy dust from the mines. That was my grand job. I could fly and I could shrink and grow in size. That is it."  
"Teach me that, then I could get out of here." Emma begged.  
The fairy shook her head. "Sorry, what worked for me, won't work for you."  
"You never know." Emma pleaded.  
The fairy sighed. "I imagine my life as a servant to shrink in size and I recall my death in order to grow big."  
"You died? Then how are you a fairy?" Emma asked.  
"That is how I became a fairy. I died doing a deed in service to fairies, and for that I was rewarded."  
Emma pondered this. Then she asked her real question.

"Why am I dangerous? Don't I have good magic?" Emma questioned.  
The fairy shook her head. "Yours is fledgling at best. So is mine. It is easy to be swayed one way or the other at this point. And with Snow White as your mother, the others are..."  
"What about my mother?" Emma's temper flared. "You fought alongside her once, now you denounce her."  
"It isn't that easy." The fairy began.  
"Neither is getting out of this cage." Emma grabbed the fairy's arm through the gap in the bars. She felt that same spark, as she had when Cora had touched her. But this time, a sickening feeling sat in her stomach. She was hurting the fairy, she was being Cora. She tried to slow her breathing and the feeling subsided.

She released the fairy's wrist. Her handprint was red and it looked slightly burned.  
The young fairy winced.  
The Blue Fairy entered at that moment, magically. "I told you not to talk to her, Nova." She inspected the novice's wrist. Nova apologized profusely to her superior.

Emma moaned. "I'm sorry."  
The Blue Fairy looked up sharply. "Sorry, isn't good enough. Anger, even justified anger, usually leads to dark magic. You can't take that sort of thing back."  
"So I'm screwed for life?" Emma gasped. "I'm evil?"

Nova grabbed the bars in front of Emma. "You can't take back this burn, but that doesn't make you evil. You aren't evil. Not unless you decide to be."  
Emma hung her head. "Never."  
Nova smiled. "I'll hold you to that."

Emma smiled, her eyes fierce, filled with desire to try again.  
An hour later, a swan was flying around the room outside of the cage. And there was Blue Fairy reconsidering her thoughts about her successor.


	15. Til we are both lying in our graves

It's a thin line between good and evil, right and wrong. Perhaps you are right, perhaps you are wrong about the fairies. But then the same could be said for everyone in this story. Are they good or bad? Maybe that changes? You'll just have to read and find out, Temo.

Thanks again to my loyal reviewers. If you would like to be one of them, you too could have a personalized answer to questions that you pose.

Here's a Snow and James scene. Yay!

Snow White was cleaning her apartment, cleaning with a fury that was unparalleled by the tidy, Mary Margaret. The apartment door opened. It was James, dressed and tired looking. "Snow."  
"Go away. Leave!"  
James grabbed her shoulder. A small flicker passed between them. One could have easily brushed it off as static, since it was so small, but James knew better. Snow's demeanor changed from anger to sadness. "What were you doing at Regina's, you and Emma?"  
James frowned. "Cora's back, we needed a plan. I needed someone who already knew what was at stake. And Emma crashed there, looking for help, after having been transfigured by Cora into a swan."  
Snow frowned but didn't question this. "Regina won't help you. She hates me... she hates us."  
James turned her face to look at him. "She did help her, and she will help us, because she hates Cora more."

Snow began to cry. "Charming, I can't keep doing this to you."  
James blinked for a second at the abrupt change of topic. "What? Doing what?" He calmly asked, stroking her face.  
Snow laid her head on his chest. "You can't keep trying to save me."  
So her memories were all melting together into one consciousness. James rejoiced and yet he also lamented this turn of events. This made communication easier, but James was sure that he was going to start seeing the real Snow very soon. The wounded, broken little girl, who blamed herself for things, even out of her control. He rubbed circles on her back.

"My dear, do you still love me?" James asked.  
Snow blinked and looked at him. "Of course I do, but..."

James smiled and interrupted. "No, buts. I love you too. And until we are both lying in our graves, I will not stop trying to save you."  
"You don't understand, you only think you know me. You love the idea of me. I am a beast and I have been since I was conceived." Snow countered. A fierce look entered her eyes, but James knew she was trying to pull back. It was what she always did when she was very frightened.  
"Yes, yes, I know, you were created by dark magic and you have powers, dark powers. Your mother gave her heart, so that you could love." James sighed and gave Snow a compassionate smile.  
"You...you know. How long?" Snow furrowed her brow. She seemed more devastated then pleased.  
"Since before we were married." James replied. "Regina told me."  
Snow growled, a sound that James hardly ever heard. "So I supposed she told you how I destroyed her life too. How I killed a fairy, destroyed Regina's apple tree, and scared my father so badly, that Regina erased his memories too."  
James nodded. "Yes, I heard it all."  
Snow's face softened. "And you still married me? Weren't you afraid of me?"

James shook his head no. "I didn't marry this." He stroked his other hand through Snow's hair and down her face. "Though I can admire, the exterior graces." He smiled naughty-like, trying to lighten the mood. Snow gave a sad smile in return. James stopped at her heart. "I married this. The stubborn, passionate, compassionate, kind, daring, noble, sorrowful..." here he paused. "patient, humble, tender...shall I go on?"  
Snow smiled, but shook her head no.  
James leaned in and kissed her. The same rush that he always felt was present and she responded with passion. There was no zing of magic, unless you counted the totally lost, tailspin of love.  
James pulled out though he longed to push forward. He felt Snow was not in the right mental state for anything more. "Now don't forget that. I mean it."  
The sparkle was in Snow's eyes still. James let go of her shoulder. He could feel his left arm going numb. The sparkle stayed for a few seconds, before fading away. James swallowed wondering what would take its place.  
Snow sat down on one of the kitchen stools. The broom fell to the floor, but she didn't bother to pick it up. "I hope you forget it."  
James didn't know how to respond to that. He picked up the broom.  
Snow put her head down on the now, very clean kitchen counter and sobbed. "Because otherwise you will have nothing, but suffering."  
James stroked her back. "I love you too."


	16. A Real Man

***  
Emma tried to not let her first real success show too much on her face. The rush, when she flapped out of the bars was intense. The pain of melting forms was diminished by her exhilaration. Upon entering the sheriff's office, it was clear however, that the feeling was not shared by August. Filling in for her, he was sitting at her desk, wearing her deputy badge, his head was lying on the wood of the desk, and he looking exhausted.

"Townspeople wearing you out?" Emma chirped. August lifted his head, but he did not smile.  
"Their worries are many, but they should be worried. The curse is broken, but we were supposed to be back."  
Emma frowned. "I don't think I broke the curse."  
August raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"  
Emma nodded. "Everyone remembers who they are, sure. But I feel like the good magic that caused that, just made things worse. Regina is even more dangerous, Cora, her mother arrived from another world, Rumpelstiltskin can make far more dangerous deals, and my mother..." Emma stopped. Not only could she still not wrap her heart around the sudden dark turns of effects, she also realized what was wrong with August.

"Your father came in here didn't he?" Emma asked compassionately.  
August's eyes turned hard and empty. He looked right through her as he spoke. "He came in here wanting to know where you were, demanding to know why everyone wasn't back in the Enchanted Forest. He didn't ask who I was, or even where I was. He was looking right at me and saw only the Stranger. The man who had been helping him in the shop days beforehand, only the temporary deputy in this time of insanity."  
Then August lifted his left leg up onto the desk. He pulled back the pant leg to reveal a still wooden leg. "Three days and it still is wood. So what did I say, nothing. Why would I? Hello father, look around, see how much I have failed you. I'm not only not a real boy, I'm not a real man."  
He turned back towards Emma, self-loathing and anger in his eyes. "I left you behind, just like everyone else had. I wasn't supposed to be your deputy. I was supposed to be your guardian. Better yet, I should have told my father that I could never take the place of your mother. I should have called him out when he lied to her."  
Emma knew she should have been compassionate, but what came out was anger. Her mother should have been with her. Her mother would have been outside of the curse with her. That was what Rumplestiltskin had intended, she could feel it.  
"Well, if your father comes by again while I'm here, let me know. I'll give him a piece of my mind. You were a boy, but he was a grown man. It is because of him, of his selfishness, that I'm losing my mother."

August went from defensive, to dejected, to confused in a few seconds time. "What? What about your mother? I figured that it would be easier to come to terms with her, since you had a good relationship with Mary Margaret."  
Emma growled. "It doesn't matter what you call her, my mother is fading away. Magic is back, and apparently the darkness is back too."  
August furrowed his brow. "I know dark magic is back too, but you lost me."

Emma grabbed his arm, "You are made of wood, you will never be real. Not completely." She ignored the hurt look on August's face. " Neither will my mother. She is just a spell. Dark magic, three drops of blood, a lock of raven hair and the snow on the ground."  
"But, she would be pure evil then and Snow White is anything but that." August protested. "I remember how kind she was to me. How everyone loved her, how she would look out for anyone."  
"My grandmother's heart beats inside of her chest. According to Regina, my grandfather said she would rather die painfully, then know that she had unleashed a beast into the world." Emma choked on the last words. She would not cry, not here.

August tried to process this new image of Snow White. He looked into Emma's eyes and he saw a tiger. He had been to the circus numerous times as an adolescent. He had even worked there for a spell. Something about it made him feel close to home.  
The lions and tigers there were fierce creatures, but they were caged and tortured into submission. August had left the circus, when he had seen a tiger maul a fellow man. A wounded pride, coupled with anger and humiliation. That is what he had seen in the tiger's eyes. He had almost come for him, and August had wished that he were a wooden boy again, for the first time ever. So he couldn't feel the pain. Something, that he had spent most of his adult life trying to avoid. But pain, that was part of being real, he reminded himself.  
"Emma, I know you are hurt and angry."  
"Don't you try and placate me. I hate you. I hate you all." Emma was beyond reason. The exhaustion of the day's trials was rapidly destroying any joy in her success. If she thought the day she battled a dragon and saved her son was mind blowing, it was nothing compared to this. A jolt passed through August's arm and through his body and down through the floor.  
"Emma!" August yelped.  
Emma released his arm. There was nice burn mark on his jacket where some sort of bolt had penetrated.  
Emma began to sob. "Nina was wrong."

August grabbed Emma and pulled her close to him. A different sort of tingle passed through his veins, holding her close to him. He shook his head. This was not a good time for telling her. "Who is Nina?"  
Emma shook her head. "Today, I discovered I could be a swan. A real life swan. I did it on my own even. I thought of her and what she said and I could do it." Emma leaned her head on August's chest. "But I also learned that I could burn people. A real life burn. Nina was wrong. I'm never going to be a swan, just an ugly duckling."  
August didn't push his unanswered question. He just held Emma close until the sobs stopped, her tears dried and she pushed away.  
She didn't apologize or even thank him. But August figured that since he had pretty much left her be unloved and unwanted, that he could endure the same. One didn't need to be thanked for trying to fix the wounds that one had already inflicted. That was your duty. A decent human being's duty.


	17. Where the True Value Lies

Thank you Temo, my most dedicated reviewer. Nope Nina is a totally different person whom I fleshed out from Emma's past ( and who might make an appearance, I haven't decided) to give her choice of last name a back story. You will at least hear about her again.

Emma is a fledgling in this town in all sense of the word. Her magic is not yet settled one way or the other. Seems with her scattered past, being the town savior is only one possible path.

And Snow is real. As real as everyone else in this town, and as real as August, whether he sees it or not yet. :)

***  
That was something that Rumpelstiltskin whole-heartedly agreed with. It was his duty to fix what he had broken. Unfortunately, some wounds are too difficult to heal. Cora was one of those wounds.  
Rumpelstiltskin fingered his newest chess piece. It was a small pawn, not a queen. But it was as black as his piece. And neatly carved into its flat surface was the name Cora. Belle had asked why she was pawn and not a queen. "Because pawns can't move backwards, only forwards." He had replied. "There is no retreat for Cora. She must either capture, or be captured."  
Belle had accepted this explanation. With grace and beauty. Her piece on the board had done nothing, but lighten in color, since he had told her everything. Well, almost everything. She was a good listener and an even better theorist. She was everything that he liked about Cora, her sharp wit, and her determination. She was everything that he liked about Regina, his other sparring mate, bold, passionate, and daring. She was also everything that he liked about Snow, his other queen, tender, compassionate, and forgiving.  
But he knew that she knew, that she hadn't been told everything. And he knew that if this continued for much longer, she would also show everything that he didn't like about himself. She would pull back, she would run away, and she would break his heart on the way out.

"Regina." Rumpelstiltskin greeted her, as he entered his shop. He had heard the bell ring as she opened the door. Usually Regina opened the door with much force, but today it was soft and gentle.  
Her demeanor was somber. Which was unusual. "How may I help you, my dear?" Rumpelstiltskin offered.  
Regina placed the box under her arm on his countertop. "Here is what my mother promised you. I don't know why you want it."  
Rumpelstiltskin smiled. "I don't give away all my secrets."  
Regina stared Rumpelstiltskin down. This brought the fire back in her eyes. "You have played me like a fiddle to get us to this point. Make no mistake, I hate you. Family or not."

Rumpelstiltskin blinked. He tried to recover quickly. Cora had to have told her. But why?  
Regina frowned. "She was right then. The knowledge that my mother and therefore me are your distant descendants merely makes me hate you even more." Regina pushed the box forward on the counter towards Rumpelstiltskin. "Stop meddling. I don't want or need your pity or your help. You've done enough damage."  
Rumpelstiltskin tried to tenderly smile, but it failed. "You know better than anyone else, that I can't do that." He placed his hands on the box. "With every beat of my heart, the darkness is renewed fresh. When it wants to be used, I will use it. I have too."  
Regina growled, but did not challenge this. "And you think your silly deals, will soften the blow. If the person gets to decide their suffering for your assistance, that this will make you less culpable, less burdened. But you are wrong."  
Rumpelstiltskin did not combat her accusation. Instead, he grabbed a necklace from the counter. He studied its intricate design. The gold necklace had a small jewel in the center, deep blue and radiant and that was where it's true value lied.

"Your mother once traded this to me, it was your grandmother's. It was the only thing that remained of her mother. It was her most precious possession and she gave it to me in a deal. Now she makes deals with people's lives. Be careful. The thing you care about the most will be wounded in the coming days. You must decide whether you will be dealing the blows yourself, or whether your compliance, your submission will deal him extra blows."  
"Are you threatening Henry?" Regina spoke harshly, teeth clenched.  
Rumpelstiltskin shook his head no. "But you could be."  
Regina frowned. "What did you promise her?"  
Rumpelstiltskin sighed. "You'll find out soon enough. The real question is what you are going to do about it."


	18. The Heart of the Matter

***  
Young Snow was crying on the bed. Regina had come back from her conversation with her father and he looked pale when he had come into her room. Regina however looked ill. She had come into Snow's room where Snow was lying on her bed looking at the ceiling, and had looked at her with a mixture of shock and disgust. Snow couldn't figure what was so wrong, but she knew that whatever she had done, was so much worse than breaking Regina's confidence. Regina had been kind, but emotionally distant since the wedding. Regina's mother had stated that she was in shock, her new life thrown on her so quickly, Daniel's betrayal still heavy on her heart.  
Snow now knew it had to be more than that. Something was wrong with her. She had done dark magic. That was bad, right? Did that make you a bad person? Is that why Regina didn't hug her, didn't smile often, didn't love her?

The next time that Regina came into her room, she had a cup of hot chocolate with cinnamon. Snow's favorite. She encouraged Snow to drink it. Snow sipped at it dutifully, waiting for the other shoe to drop. But Regina didn't seem angry, or even upset now. She seemed hard and set like stone. Regina's long and lustrous locks were hanging down, which was unusual and Snow reached out to stroke them.  
This seemed to awaken Regina, who recoiled. Snow pulled back, spilling a bit of her chocolate on her dress. But she didn't even notice. Snow began to cry. "I didn't know or I wouldn't have made that apple. I didn't know it was wrong."  
Regina sighed. She wiped a cloth on Snow's dress, but this only made the stain worse. "That's the worst part of all. Because then I can't hate you."  
Snow's eyes widened. Regina took the half empty cup from her and set it on the table.  
"You hate me?"  
Regina looked at the mug and not at Snow. "I did."  
Snow looked at her pleadingly. "Why?"  
Regina closed her eyes. "It was easier."  
Snow had no idea what Regina meant by that. Snow suddenly felt drained and her eyes felt heavy. "What?" She slurred.  
Regina smiled, but it was a pained smile. "You should be glad your mother died. No mother is better than a cruel one."  
Snow nodded and smiled her eyes closing. "The worst game."  
Regina's turn to be confused. "What?"  
"It is bad that I did dark magic, but it could be worse." Snow slurred, her words becoming difficult to understand.  
Regina frowned. "Yes, I suppose it could always be worse."  
But Snow didn't hear and she had fallen forward in a slump.

Regina stroked Snow's hair as she lay sleeping trying to work through all the things she had discovered. She gestured for the servant girl waiting in the hall and the two of them carried Snow down the hall. They entered a room filled with mirrors. Most of them Regina or Cora had acquired since their arrival. Some were magical, others were simple, but elegant. But there was one, Regina had taken great pains to borrow. A young fairy had delivered it just an hour before.  
"I will wait and watch from here." The fairy spoke kindly, but firmly. "I'm not to let it out of my sight."  
Regina nodded. "Set her down here, Natalie."  
As Regina and Natalie both crossed in front of the mirror it sprang to life. Regina knew what it showed, the state of your true heart, and she was almost hesitant to look. She looked at Natalie's image and the servant girl's image looked back at her. Regina turned look at her own reflection. She didn't see herself as she stood there. Instead, a small young Regina of about 8, sat on the floor, her head on her knees and her arms wrapped around her legs. She looked up and Regina saw the pain in her eyes.  
Natalie was looking, but didn't say anything. She stepped out of the way of the mirror. Snow's prone figure on the ground, however didn't match her prone figure in the mirror at all.  
The figure stood up and stood looking directly back at Regina. She was a woman of 30, her hair long and blond, waves flowing. She was set in royal robes with a crown on her head. Her face however, was sorrowful.  
"Who are you?" Regina demanded.  
The woman gave a sad smile. She looked down at her daughter on the ground. "I was once called Margaret."  
Regina nodded. "So you are Snow's mother."  
Margaret shook her head. "You are correct."  
Regina had hundreds of questions that she wanted to ask her, but she needed to get down to business. "Why did you ask for my mother's help?"  
Margaret shook her head. "Is it horrible to say, that I knew that she would help? That I knew Rumpelstiltskin had lied about his powers, and that Cora, well she would have less...morals."  
Regina frowned. "Don't you dare make her out to be the villain here!" She knew her words were true, but she hated to hear Snow's mother say them.  
Margaret shook her head furiously. "Of course not. She was like a sister to me, when I lost my own sister growing up."  
Regina sighed. "Well, I'm glad I don't have a sister then."  
Snow's mother smiled. "But you do. Snow is your sister. Cut from the same cloth or hair so to speak."  
Regina gave a hollow, weak laugh. "And that makes me her mother too. How twisted."  
Snow's mother became somber. "Regina. You may be her mother, but you do not care for her like a mother."  
Regina growled. "She ruined my life, and now she goes about casting dark magic. Why would this make me care for her?"  
Snow's mother took a deep, heavy breath. "A mother's love is unbreakable. A child's love measures injuries. One day, I hope you will experience this."  
Regina hissed. Her image in the mirror, the little girl, however looked up.  
"Your mother is still a child. Wounded and alone. She did as she promised, but I didn't realize that she was still angry with me. So did what I had to do. I had to die, to save my child."  
Regina was going to ask, what Margaret had done to anger her mother, but she never got to ask. Her own image turned fearful and spoke. "She's coming." And in her heart, Regina knew that this was true, Cora was close.  
Natalie jumped into action. She began to pull Snow out of view, and Margaret's image disappeared. The fairy flew in from the back of room and performed some sort of magic. The mirror disappeared from view also. Yet Regina could still see her image in it, if she turned her head a certain direction.  
"It's an illusion, it's the best that I could do." The fairy muttered. "It is too difficult to move something this magical, this quickly. She then hid behind the hidden mirror.  
Cora opened the door to the mirror room.  
She looked from Regina who looked a little tense, to the servant girl who was holding a prone, drugged Snow White's head in her lap.  
"What is going on in here?" Cora demanded.  
She crossed the floor. Regina stepped back, partly out of fear and partly because she wanted to see what would happen if her mother stood in front of the hidden mirror.  
Cora however, seemed to stand just before the range of the mirror, and it seemed almost intentionally.  
"I see you didn't eat the apple." Cora stated calmly.  
Regina narrowed her eyes. "Why would I?"  
"To be free of course, of the great burden of sorrow that you carry with you." Cora smiled almost tenderly. Regina almost considered that her mother might have actually had honorable intentions, but then Cora continued. "This is your life now. Your past is just getting in the way."  
Regina was angry. This was not the life she had planned. This was her mother's goal. "Why did you help Margaret White? What exactly did you do to Snow?"  
Cora's eyes set. "So you know. That I used my magic to help create Snow White."  
Regina nodded. "Three drops of her mother's blood, a lock of raven hair, from me, and the snow on the ground. That and a lot of dark magic."  
Cora gave a wicked smile. "One of my finer accomplishments. A natural leader, smart, clever, yet patient, a quick learner and an absolute beauty. She gets that last part from you. Add her mother's own heart, which I knew she would willing give, considering the consequences of refusing, and she is one perfect little lady."  
Regina was about to say something when someone else did.  
"I'm made of dark magic?"

It was Snow, who had apparently awoken and she seemed to have heard most of conversation. Regina swore, she knew Snow had only had a few sips of the chocolate, but hadn't expected it to wear off so quickly.  
Cora strode past the mirror and over to Snow. Regina caught a glimpse of her in the mirror as she passed. She didn't look like a little girl, but an old, wrinkled hag. Hunched over, and scarred.  
"My dear child." Cora bent down and stroked Snow's face. "Your poor mother tried so hard to have a child. I merely helped her as best as I could."  
Snow tried to sit up, but her vision was dizzy still. "My father says dark magic is dangerous."  
"He agreed to your mother's bargain. He knows what I did." Cora justified.  
Snow frowned.

The servant girl spoke to her. "Maybe he has since learned a hard lesson. Maybe he didn't think that before, but now he does."  
"Who asked you to speak, lowly servant?" Cora fumed.  
"Natalie is my friend. She helps me get dressed, she tells me stories, and she plays with me." Snow challenged.  
"Your father owns her. She has to do those things." Cora explained. "If you are being more the polite with her, then she will start to think that she has a say in the way things are run around here."  
"You have my permission to speak, Natalie." Regina firmly spoke and planted her heels.  
Cora turned to her daughter.  
"I'm queen of this palace, you are but my companion. I could have you removed from this palace, if I but asked." Regina continued.  
Cora closed her eyes briefly and gave a wide, dangerous looking smile. "I got you where you are. And this is the thanks? You could do anything you want to and you would choose to do this?"  
Snow looked up at Regina awe and fear on her face. "You would exile your own mother?"  
Regina kept her gaze on Cora. "Yes." She was shocked at her own courage. Leopold had promised that if this was what she wanted, that he would allow it, but to stand before her mother and say it, was more daring then she thought she was capable of.  
Her mother grabbed Regina by the neck with her magic. "I brought you into this world and I can make you leave it. You may be queen here, but...I own you." Cora's eyes flashed and Regina once again saw the beast. The one that had ripped out Daniel's heart.  
All of a sudden, a black panther-like creature flashed past her vision, standing in the mirror where Snow now stood. The hold was released. Not calmly, but forcefully. Regina collapsed, holding her neck. Cora was thrown back a bit, but unharmed.  
Snow looked up at her raised hands, as though she couldn't fathom what she had just done.

Cora smiled cruelly. "Fine, exile me. My plan is already set in motion. From the moment Snow cast her first spell, the beast awoke. There is no putting the genie back in the lamp."  
She got to her feet and stroked Snow's frightened trembling chin, forcing her to look at her.  
"It owns you, just like it owns me. The dark beast. One day you will join me or die trying to stop it. I hope you pick the easier, safer choice."

In the mirror, out of the corner of Regina's eye, where her mother and Snow stood, a dark, sharp beaked bird with huge talons flapped its wings. Opposite the huge, raven-like creature was a little girl. Not a beast, not even Margaret. Snow White. Just as she stood, tearful and trembling.  
Cora turned and left the room and Snow dropped to the ground sobbing.  
In that moment, Regina knew, in the depth of her being, that Snow White's changing heart would be the death of her.


	19. Nothing but the Truth

Yay! A new reviewer. Thanks, twilightaddict17.

***  
Henry was listless. Living in a town where the same sort of things happened, week after week, routine and monotony the master and ruler, people weren't sure what to do with themselves. Emma's arrival had been needed. But now with people's memories returning things had been confusing and now magic and Cora's arrival had been frightening.  
School should have been in session, but no one bothered to try and maintain some sort of order. Children were remembering the same classes, year after year, unlike Henry, feeling 28 years older and confused.

This was not the happy ending that Henry had envisioned.  
Henry had read the storybook as often as he could sneak away to look at it. It had stayed firmly locked in the drawer at the sheriff's office, but Henry had the key. However, reading it over and over, just made it feel inadequate now. Like the truth it had once held, was one-sided and biased.

Both Regina and Cora had left the house and while he knew that he was supposed to stay put, it had been a rule Regina had established when she told Emma that he was safest here. But the spells she had set, to prevent attack, didn't kept him out, and it certainly didn't keep Cora out, so Henry didn't feel very safe.  
He snuck around the empty streets, finding his way to Mary...Snow White and Emma's apartment.

He knocked on the door. A small voice in the back of his mind told him he should have stayed at home, that Snow White was not what he had expected and that her husband was worried. The other small voice challenged that his grandfather had left him with her when he went for help, so he couldn't have been worried she would hurt him.  
The door opened. Snow White stood wearing jean capris, a short black lace dress over top and a long red beaded necklace. This was neither the woman pictured in the storybook, nor Mary Margaret with her pale and modest teacher clothes. This woman was fierce and steely, like a storm ready to blow over. Henry hesitated, recalling how weak he had felt the last time he had seen her.  
"Henry, right? Come in." Snow offered.  
Henry followed, but he was unsettled. The place looked the same. Much cleaner then he last left it, but still the same. However, the curtains were drawn, which was unusual, and there were no plants in sight.  
Henry took a seat on the kitchen stool, the one he had been sitting in last time he was here. The awful breakfast.  
"What is the reason you have come?" Snow calmly asked. It was if she was tending to a house guest. It reminded him of Regina, her usual cold indifference for anyone, but him.  
"Why are you treating me like a stranger?" Henry softly moaned. "What's wrong?"  
Snow opened the fridge, but she stood there staring instead of taking something out. She closed the door. Looking straight into Henry's eyes, she spoke softly. "It's safer that way."  
Henry frowned. "Safer?" When Snow had turned around, her gaze was soft like he remembered.  
Snow sighed. "You wouldn't understand."

Henry sighed. "I read the book you gave me. I helped bring everyone's memories back. What should I understand?" Henry pleaded. "I can't help, if I don't know."  
Snow jumped, her voice suddenly fierce. "You will not help. You can't. You will go home and leave me be. I won't let you drag yourself down into the fire with everyone else. You've done enough things."  
Henry shook his head. "I'm not leaving until you tell me, what's wrong."  
Snow growled. A sound Henry was sure he had never heard Mary Margaret make, ever.  
"Don't you understand. You can't help me. I'm dangerous. Everyone that has ever tried to help me, they have suffered for it." Snow's demeanor was harsh, but her eyes and her voice betrayed her fear.

Henry closed his eyes. He only knew about Daniel, from the book and Snow's previous confession and that wasn't really Snow's fault. What else could she be referring to?  
"I'm just going to find out from someone else then. Unless you would like to start talking." Henry's voice was firmer and more resolved.  
Snow gave a deep, heavy sigh. Her demeanor shrunk and for a moment, Henry felt like Mary Margaret was back. Pale, weak, closed off, defeated by an unknown enemy. All the things that Henry worried about Mary Margaret's life, how she had been when she was not teaching, and before Emma.  
"You remember how I said I made 8 bargains with Rumpelstiltskin?"  
Henry nodded.  
Snow looked at the counter top. "I'm also a bargain."  
Henry frowned. "You're a bargain?"  
Snow nodded. "My mother made two bargains. One with Cora and one with Rumpelstiltskin. I am those bargains."  
Henry thought about the other Snow White story. The one Emma had told him she grew up learning. "Lips red as blood, face white as snow, hair black as a raven. And her mother knew she would die in childbirth." Of course, none of that had been mentioned as being a spell, but Henry was beginning to wonder if magic was behind everything. Good or Bad.  
Snow nodded. "You die, when something important as your heart, leaves your body with your newborn baby."  
Henry tried to process this. "Dark magic."  
Snow gave a sad laugh. "Three drops of blood, a lock of raven hair, and the snow on the ground, and a lot of dark magic. That and my mother's heart."  
Henry closed his eyes, his thoughts swirling. Did that make Snow White a bad guy? All the stories had pointed to her being the victim. What if they were wrong?  
He thought to something his therapist had once said during a conversation about fairy tale characters. Back when he was Archie and didn't believe Henry. Henry had asked how you knew someone was evil or good. Both did bad things sometimes, right? _Bad people aren't afraid that they are evil. There is no fear in a heart that embraces the darkness._  
Snow grabbed Henry's hand and he opened his eyes.  
She held her hand over her heart. "And as long as my mother's heart beats in my chest, Henry, I will care for you. I will never attempt to harm you."  
She released his hand. "But you must stop caring for me. You must forget about me. Trying to save me will only bring you sorrow or death."  
Her demeanor became almost angry. "Now go. Leave!"  
Henry sprung from the stool and made his way to the door. The door closed behind him, but he did not leave. He stood there listening to Snow White crying up against the door. Henry longed to go back in, to assure her that he didn't hate her, that she was still a good guy, if she wanted to be, but he knew it would be impossible.

He ran all the way back to Regina's house. He ran full speed up to his bedroom where he hoped to sob and work through all his confusion and anxiety. But someone was occupying his bed.  
Cora was sitting on his bed. "Where have you been?"  
"The Diner." Henry lied. He saw Regina standing looking out the window of his bedroom. She looked relieved that he was back, but tense.  
"Lies." Cora hissed. "Bad boys tell lies. You wouldn't want that would you?" Her words were kind, but her eyes flashed dangerously. "You will tell me and my daughter, the truth from now on."  
Henry closed his eyes. It felt like his heart began to beat rapidly and his stomach clenched.  
"Now where were you really?" Cora asked again.  
The words rushed out of his mouth, without hesitation. "Snow White's apartment."

Magic.  
Henry clamped his hand over his mouth. Cora laughed. "So much more effective than a stupid growing nose." Henry looked to Regina in fear. Regina turned her eyes to the floor. It was the first time that Henry had ever seen her look this defeated, this afraid. Henry's eyes widened.  
"And what were you doing there?" Cora asked.  
"I wanted to see if she was okay." Henry's words rushed out again, but this time he wondered if he could filter the truth.  
"And? What did you learn?" Cora pushed.  
Henry bypassed the dark magic bit and he also tailored his word choice. What came out was indeed the truth, but he wasn't sure Cora would understand it the same way he did. "She is afraid."Cora smiled. "Thank you, Henry." Triumph in her eyes, she left the room.

It was just Regina and Henry. Regina looked up slowly and met Henry's eyes. It almost looked like she had been crying.  
"I didn't do a very good job of protecting you, did I?" Regina sighed.  
"You sure didn't." Henry replied, not really sure he could ease the blow on that one.  
Regina placed her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. For everything."  
She began to walk out of the room.  
"I know." This was very true. For the first time, Henry had seen remorse, had seen her defeated. He had seen fear. Fear of the darkness.  
She must have heard, because the tension in the room lifted and she paused.  
She turned and looked ready to ask Henry a question. Henry knew she could have asked him anything, and it would have to be the truth.  
But then she frowned and kept walking.  
And Henry made a decision.


	20. Whose really to blame for love?

Indeed, you are right, Temo.

I think that Regina might be the only one who hasn't realized this is true.

***  
Cora walked towards Snow White's apartment. She knocked gently.  
"Go away, Henry." Snow moaned from inside.  
"It's not Henry." Cora replied softly.  
There was a shuffle and the door opened. Snow had obviously been crying, but she had stopped in confusion.  
"You're Regina's mother." Snow stated, almost making it a question. She didn't look much older then she remembered her. But Snow supposed, neither did she. Even after 28 years.  
"And you look like you could use a cup of tea." Cora smiled.  
Cora invited herself in and soon put a kettle on to boil.  
"Sit, sit. I'm not here for your hospitality." Cora stroked Snow's tears off of her face with her fingers.  
"What do you want then?" Snow asked, shivering slightly at Cora's intensity. "I remember what you did, what do you want?"  
Cora seemed affronted. "Want? Only your happiness and your devotion. That is all I want from all my children."  
Snow trembled as Cora sat down at the counter with her. "You might have created me, but you don't own me."  
Cora smiled patiently. "Of course not, my dear. A creature as marvelous as yourself is like the night sky. You can't own that."  
Snow nodded. "You...you love me don't you?" It was a question, but it was clear Snow knew what Cora's response would be.  
Cora closed her eyes. "From the moment, I saw you. Both times."  
She opened her eyes and saw that Snow did not think this was a good thing.  
"Why? Why have you done this to me?" Snow whispered.  
"I lost you the first time, Maggie. I was getting a second try." Cora seemed almost tender.  
Snow was silent. She fingered her wedding ring, which she had moved back to her ring finger in the past three days.  
"I'm not Maggie."  
Cora shook her head. "You have her heart."  
Snow shook her head too. "It's not that simple."  
Cora placed her hand on Snow's. "It can be."  
Snow pulled her hand back. She thought of James, of everything that she put him though, of her poor daughter, who still couldn't overcome a lifetime of suffering and let her love her. She thought of Henry, who tried so hard to make things better, stumbling through life, a boy who was learning how hard to was to be a man.  
"Love is never that simple." Snow countered. "You try your best, but happily ever after isn't real. Just two people who would do anything to try to make it true for their other person."  
Snow frowned. "And you have never wanted this. Not for anyone."  
Cora became bristled. "How could you know? You've never let me love you, Maggie."  
Snow knew that she had her mother's heart, but she did not have her memories. So she didn't challenge this.  
"You have to let me go, Cora."  
It was the first time Snow had ever called her Cora.  
Cora stiffened, rather than rejoicing.  
"I love my husband, my family. The beast inside may claw at me until I die, but it won't take this from me." Snow continued. "And if that means I have to die or live my whole life without them. To ensure their happiness, then that is what I will do. You must learn to accept the same. If you truly do love me, then my happiness should be your first thought."  
At that moment, the kettle began to whistle. Snow took out two mugs and brought over the tea bags. Pouring hot water into both mugs, Snow handed one to Cora.  
Cora held hers without drinking.  
"The beast takes everything. You'll see. Soon, you'll have nothing left, but me. Two lonely beasts." Cora's voice was harsh and steely again.  
Cora set down her mug and turned and walked out.  
Snow stared at the mug of tea as if symbolized everything that was wrong with the world.  
She wanted to blame Cora for her misery. It would be easier.  
But who could you really blame for love?


	21. Finally Home

A tad more light hearted, before things get rough. Thanks again for all your comments!

***  
Emma had gone straight from August to Archie. She hated therapists. The fact that he was a cricket made her feel even more ridiculous, but yet here she was. She knocked on his door, hoping he was in the office instead of wherever he lived. She should have asked that in the census too.  
The door opened but it was not Archie. It was James. He looked pale and drawn and behind him in the room, Archie look tired.  
"I'll come back." Emma muttered quickly and turned to leave. That horrible group session she had envisioned, no way was that happening.  
"Emma." James had spoken her name, just her name. But the longing that she often felt from Snow, who she realized she had been avoiding ever since this morning, was present in just that one word.

She froze. Stupid, stupid name. She should have changed her first name too, when she turned 18. She should have started over from scratch, like she swore she was going to.  
But then Henry might not have found her. Then she wouldn't be here. Then her father, tender and patient might not be here, calling her name, like it was his lifeline.  
Life would have been so much easier.  
But Emma had long given up on easy.  
Henry's father had been easy, too easy.  
She had burned that bridge years ago. Maybe she had burned too many of them.  
Shocked at her personal insight without having even stepped into the therapist's office, Emma turned around.  
His eyes lit up. The way that Henry's did, when she gave in to his silly ideas, or called him her son, or just sought him out, just to sit with him. Emma sighed, she was being sucked in.

She didn't speak, but walked past her father into the office. Archie gave her a smile.  
"How may I help you, Miss Emma?"  
Emma sighed. "All my life, I have tried to see things logically. But it just isn't my nature, apparently. Which explains why I'm such a failure at it."  
"Emma." James accosted her with just her name again. "You are not a failure."  
Emma growled. "I told my kid I had a super power when we first met. About how I could tell when people were lying. I was very good at it, now I feel like there is nothing to work with. I have been lied to over and over again since I got here, and I have no way of knowing what to do next. Is it the curse, why has it suddenly deserted me?"  
This was not what Emma had planned to talk about, but from previous forced attendance to such sessions in the foster care system, she knew that therapists had a super power too. Once you started talking, you ended up saying way too much. It was safest to keep your mouth shut.  
And Emma hadn't quite given up on safe yet. But she was close.  
Archie smiled. "Are you familiar with Superman?"  
Emma raised an eyebrow. "The comic book superhero?"  
Archie nodded. "He has all these super powers right? But when do they not work for him?"  
Emma sighed. "When he is exposed to Kryptonite."  
Archie nodded and encourage her to continue. "And where does Kryptonite come from?"  
James interrupted from his spot on the couch. "Krypton, right? His home world."  
Emma blinked. "So, it is the magic that it messing with me."  
Archie smiled, but shook his head. "Kryptonite is still just a rock. It had no effect on the inhabitants of Krypton. Think bigger."  
Emma frowned. "Just get to the point or I'm going home."  
There was silence. "Where?" Archie prodded.  
Emma blinked. In all her adult life, she had never once called any residence home. It was back to her flat, her apartment, her residence, her car. It was never home.

Emma began to laugh. It was dry at first, but it blossomed. Tears began to flow down her cheeks, but she was still laughing. "A fairy tale character just made a comic book analogy."  
She flopped down on the couch. Her laughing slowed, but the smile remained.  
"Did it work?" James asked a bit confused as to why this was funny.  
Emma wiped the tears from her face.  
"Yes."  
Emma turned to Archie/Jiminy. "When I got here, I wanted certain things to be true and they were, even if they were not. Before, I didn't care what happened to those people who lied to me, so I saw their deception. But now I so desperately want certain things to be true, that I couldn't see whether they were or not. I wanted to be deceived."  
"You want to be deceived?" James questioned.  
Emma grinned and stood up. "First time in my life. Because I'm home. Never before has any place been home."  
With a boldness that Emma wasn't sure she had originally possessed, she turned and placed a gentle kiss on her father's temple. "Hope you work through what you came here for. I'm going home, to talk to my mother."  
Emma didn't care what spell had created her mother. A mother was still a mother. No matter where they came from.  
Who knew, maybe even Superman existed somewhere. After all, fairies and werewolves and boys made of wood were turning out to be.  
Emma jogged out of the room with a smile on her face.

***  
Emma closed the door behind as she left. James just sat there stunned. Archie waited patiently for several minutes.  
"She kissed me goodbye. I'm her father." It was all James could manage.  
Archie smiled compassionately.  
James shook his head to clear his thoughts. "I can't do this, Archie. What Rumpelstiltskin wants. Even if it works, the loss, it will destroy her. And poor Henry, he's a great kid. What's best for Snow, will not be best for them."  
Archie sadly smiled. The joy of Emma's small breakthrough being pushed aside to handle the more serious topic.  
"I can't tell you what to do, James." Archie sighed. "That isn't my job."  
"What would you do, though?" James protested.  
Archie sighed. "If you don't like the plan, then think of a new one. Because I already know what happens when you don't do anything. And now that you know too, about what I didn't do, perhaps this will help."  
James folded his arms over his chest. "Who would help me come up with another plan?"  
Archie smiled kindly. "Now that we can theorize about together."


	22. An unwilling Master

New reviewers! Yay! Sorry that it is taking longer now for updates. We are dangerously close to approaching the part of the story that hasn't been written out yet.

***  
Young Snow wept. Regina didn't dare touch her now. She just stood there as she wept. Natalie had lifted her up and encouraged her to leave the room, to go back to her room. Snow had blindly followed, tears streaming down her face.  
Days had passed like this. Her mother had been exiled with much force. A whole crowd of soldiers had to travel through the hat with her, forced into exile as well. Even the hat maker never came back, leaving his teenage son all alone in the world.  
Cora was a vicious woman, Regina knew this. She sure was going to take everyone along for the ride, just because she could.  
However, without her presence, Regina had reconnected with her father. Some of the darkness in her heart felt like it was lifting. Regina felt the strongest that she had since she had lost Daniel.

But Snow never recovered.  
She did nothing, but cry and lay in bed. Natalie could not lift her spirits, and not even her father could do more than make her stop crying briefly.  
Quickly, the castle resumed its dark, heavy burden. Her mother was gone, but a new darkness had taken its place. Grief and self-pity.  
Snow was the new master.

Months passed this way. Any new joy Regina had found was soon being crushed. King Leopold became silent and began to take ill. Something had to be done. Regina called the young fairy who had brought the mirror. "I have already taken it back, I'm not bringing it here again. My initative was not taken kindly." The Fairy began.  
Regina shook her head. "I'm not looking for the mirror. I need your magic. I heard that you can remove dark magic from items."  
"Yes, this has been done by other fairies, but it is dangerous work." The fairy protested.  
"Novilla, you are the next in line if the Blue Fairy herself were to die. Certainly, you can handle such a task." Regina placated the fairy.  
The fairy frowned. "What are we removing the magic from?"  
Regina smiled. "Snow White."  
The fairy paled. "That isn't an object, that is a human being. It's never been done before."  
Regina grit her teeth. "She is nothing more than blood, a lock of hair and snow. That sounds like an object to me."  
The fairy shook her head. "She has a heart, a soul. That makes her a person."  
Regina sighed. "You won't at least try. You see how thick the sorrow and the darkness is around here."  
The fairy frowned, but did not contest this.  
Regina continued. "If something isn't done, you know full well, just as I do, what will happen. One day the grief will turn to anger. Anger which in a person of her strength, will lead to dark magic."  
The fairy gave a heavy sigh. "You are right. I will see what I can do."

When the fairy returned, she was carrying a jar. "This is a magical storage vessel. Normally, when a fairy touches an object with dark magic, they will extract the magic into one of these. But we have to adjust this plan. You see, a dark object doesn't have a will of its own. It doesn't fight back. A fairy can directly touch such an object for a brief period of time without too much pain. However, too many of these such removals, can cause a fairy to grow dark, so it is forbidden for us to do this more than once."  
Regina frowned, this sounded dangerous. The fairy was right.

Novilla continued. "But a dark creature, they can impose their magic upon us. They can attack us, while we are trying to help them. Suck the life out of us make us weak and unable to continue. So I will need a buffer. Someone to hold Snow's hand and the jar while I use my magic to guide the dark magic into the jar."  
Regina sat in her chair by the window. She massaged her forehead.  
"It would have to be someone reliable. Because if for any reason, they broke the connection, the magic in them at the moment, would be stuck." Novilla continued.  
Just then the door burst open to Regina's room. It was Natalie.  
Regina was about to give her a piece of her mind for barging without knocking even. But she stopped. Natalie was crying and she was spattered in blood.  
"Snow..." she gasped. Breathing heavy, she sunk to the floor.  
Regina jumped to her feet. "What did she do?" None of the blood looked to be Natalie's.  
"I went to give her mug of tea and try to get her out of bed, but when I got there...she..." Natalie stumbled over her words.  
Regina grabbed her by her apron. "What?"  
Natalie swallowed, tears running down her face. "She just tried to kill herself."

Regina frowned. Snow was only 14. That was rather drastic. Regina felt a lump rising in her throat. She had wept over Daniel, hours and hours, days and days, mostly in private. She often earlier on, when the wound was fresher, had wished she was dead too, but she had never once attempted to make this true.  
So for Snow, this was more than grief. This was self hatred.

"But it didn't work?" Regina shook her head, clearing her thoughts.  
Natalie shook her head. "There was blood, but her wounds just...they sealed right up."  
Regina ran towards Snow's bedroom, dragging Natalie with her and the fairy following closely behind.

When they got there, Snow was not alone. Regina's father was holding her as she cried into his chest. He looked up briefly at Regina, but kept his focus on Snow. He was stroking her hair, the way that he did with Regina, when she had been younger. "Why didn't it work?" Snow was sobbing. "I want to die."  
Her father looked up at Regina again. "I didn't realize you told her Daniel had run off. I was trying to cheer her up yesterday and she said something about love and asked how one knew and I brought up the first example I could think of. And well it led to her finding out he was dead."  
"He's dead and it's all my fault." Snow sobbed.

Regina didn't contest that, not because it was true, but because the other alternative was anger at Cora. And anger against someone you couldn't touch, became anger at the world. Regina knew this all too well. And for Snow that would be deadly.  
"I destroyed your tree too. Don't eat from it anymore." Snow continued, as though she was trying to justify her reason for dying. "I already tried to make a poison apple, but it didn't work. So I thought I did it wrong. So I tried something a bit more...raw." Snow babbled. She said raw with the sort of ferocity that only belongs to a desperate soul. "Why didn't it work?"

Regina's father sighed. "My dear, you are composed of your mother's blood. That protects anyone who shares her blood, any of your descendents from being willfully harmed by you. It also means that you can't willfully harm yourself. Since you are made from your mother's blood too."

Snow sobbed again. "So I can't die?"  
Regina's father closed his eyes. "Not like this. Not willfully."  
Regina tried to process this. She wondered if that meant that she couldn't harm Snow either and vice versa. Since her hair was used as well in the spell. Perhaps that was her mother's intent. That if Snow turned against Cora, she would be unable to hurt Regina as well as Cora.  
All for what? A magical play thing? A magical daughter?

Regina's father interrupted her thoughts. "If you, Snow, are so afraid of being evil, then you will be fine. You'll see. You must never lose this fear."  
Snow nodded timidly. A silence settled on everyone.  
"Did you love her?" Snow looked as though this had been bothering her for sometime. "Regina's mother." She didn't even use Cora's name as though it might bite her.  
Henry Mills sighed. A sad smile graced his face. "I may not have loved what she did. But always loved her."  
Regina internally cringed. She hated to see her father show any sign of affection for her mother. It usually made him seem weak in her mind. Snow seemed intrigued however.  
"Why?"  
Henry Mills stroked her hair. "One day, I hope you will find true love with another person. Then you'll know."  
Snow frowned. "I hope not. I probably get him killed."  
Regina couldn't agree more.  
That night, the fairy, Regina and Natalie made their plans.


	23. A Real Man and a True Princess

Thanks! No I had not thought of Sweetheart Roland at all, though I had heard of it before. My three drops of blood came straight from Snow White.

Once upon a time in midwinter, when the snowflakes were falling like feathers from heaven, a queen sat sewing at her window, which had a frame of black ebony wood. As she sewed she looked up at the snow and pricked her finger with her needle. Three drops of blood fell into the snow. The red on the white looked so beautiful that she thought to herself, "If only I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood in this frame."

Soon afterward she had a little daughter who was as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as ebony wood, and therefore they called her Little Snow-White. And as soon as the child was born, the queen died.

I thought the lock of hair was better then a wood frame though, and since OUAT used the lock of hair symbolism already, the possibilities were endless.

***  
Rumpelstiltskin was cleaning out his trunks. Looking for something specific, he was having little to no luck, and was becoming frustrated. The shop bell dinged.  
"It says closed." Rumpelstiltskin grumbled.  
"I saw it. But I also saw you rummaging about in here."  
Rumpelstiltskin blinked and smiled. "Henry?"  
Henry smiled. "We need to talk."  
The smile faded from Rumpelstiltskin's face. "Oh?"  
Henry was still smiling though. "I need to know everything you know about Cora."  
Rumpelstiltskin shook his head. "That is a lot of things best left unknown by a 10 year old boy."  
Henry persisted. "I'll be 11 soon. And one has to know one's enemy in order to rescue them."  
This gave Rumpelstiltskin pause.  
"You are so much like your grandfather." He mused out loud.  
This brightened the look on Henry's face. "Really?"  
Rumpelstiltskin nodded. "Really. He once told me a real man has to have something worth protecting. Who are you protecting?"  
Henry smiled. "My mother."  
Rumpelstiltskin frowned. "Your mother will be fine. Emma could have the whole town behind her, if she but takes a stand."  
Henry shook his head. "No, my other mom."

At this Rumpelstiltskin threw in his last ace. Here, on this very spot, would the pieces all align. "I thought you hated her, called her the Evil Queen and what not. Why the change of heart?" A bit of his old cackle came into his voice.  
Henry shook his head. "No change of heart, just an understanding."  
Rumpelstiltskin smiled. "Henry, you know about Cora's bargain don't you?"  
Henry frowned. "I have been reduced, since this morning, to polite greetings and no lies. But Regina has commanded nothing."  
Rumpelstiltskin grinned. "Ah yes, the nobler heart from the start." He closed the trunk. "Don't worry about the bargain. I can still work with your restrictions."  
Henry gave a small sigh of relief. "The storybook says you knew Emma would come here at age 28 and she would break the curse. You can see the future can't you? You've got this all planned out."  
Rumplestiltskin gave Henry a sad smile. "If only seeing any future, was as easy as assuring that it came true. But nothing important is ever easy."  
Rumplestiltskin turned and picked something out of his glass display boxes. "Like love."  
Henry was nervous looking when Rumplestiltskin turned around. "Like love." he repeated with a weak smile.  
Rumplestiltskin handed Henry a necklace. "This belonged to Cora's mother. I want you to wear this. Next time Cora sees it, you get your answers."  
Henry frowned. "What will I owe you?"  
Rumpelstiltskin smiled and shook his head. "If this works, if all the pieces align, I will owe you."  
Henry left with a sad smile on his face, but he nodded and left the shop.  
Rumpelstiltskin turned around and there were two wooden dolls missing from his shelf. In their place was a card that merely said, Sorry.  
Let Cora have them, Rumpelstiltskin thought. He had the final piece.

Emma opened the door to her shared apartment. It was super sterile and there were no plants inside. Mary Margaret had always had some sort of greenery at least, thriving in at least one room. "Snow." Emma called out. No answer.  
She entered the back hall. She was about to call out Mom rather timidly, when she saw the box. It was sitting in front of the door to her room. It was her box, with all her childhood memories. The lid was on it and it had all of Emma's clothes still on their hangers sitting across it. She peeked into her room. It looked just like when she had moved in, only cleaner and less dusty.

And Snow was sitting on her bed. Dressed in the same outfit Henry had seen her wearing earlier, it looked so un-Mary Margaret-like that it threw Emma for a moment. "Snow." She whispered tentatively.  
"Go away. Can't you see that you are being booted out?" Snow bit back.  
"Can I at least know what I'm being charged with?" Emma sternly remarked, unsure how to handle this new creature.  
"You never clean, you leave your things and your messes lying about. You are erratic and psychotic. I have to have order, do you understand?" Snow stood and turned towards Emma. Her words were harsh and cruel, but her eyes were afraid, like a chased animal. "Everything must be in its place, the dirt must be cleaned away, and the darkness kept inside. Do you understand?"  
Snow was right in front of Emma's face. "I must be willing to cut off everything, I must keep it down."  
Emma swallowed. She reached out for Snow's shoulder, James had done this before and it had seemed to calm her, but she was brushed away. "No! Leave, you can't stay! You can't care for me or it will destroy you too. The beast takes everything." Snow was breathing rapidly now and panic was in her eyes. She picked up the box and the clothes and shoved them into Emma's arms.

Emma sighed and tried not to cry. No, she would not cry, not now, not here. She turned around and Snow pushed her bedroom door shut behind her. Emma was about to lose it trying to get the front door open without dropping anything. But the door magically opened for her. Or at least, Grumpy opened it. He gave Emma a confused look and Emma flew past him down the stairs. "I wouldn't go in there if I were you." Emma yelled back, the tears starting to escape.  
Grumpy followed her to her car parked around back and opened the door to Emma's car for her. Emma flung her stuff in the back seat. Where it usually kept residence, before Storybrooke. She slammed the door closed.  
Then she turned around and slid down the side of her car door, dropping to the ground. "Why do I always get screwed over?" Emma sobbed.  
Grumpy just stood there. "Snow Dark is back isn't she?"  
Emma sighed. "More like Snow Psycho right now."

"Wait, do you know?" Emma questioned. "About her being composed of dark magic?"  
Grumpy nodded. "I've known since before you were born. Why do you think the seven of us have been looking after her for so long?" Grumpy frowned. "Dwarves are born in the mines. Mines where magic is harvested. It's not hard for us to sense magic in people."  
Emma closed her eyes. "What should I do? I don't know how much more of things spiraling downward I can take."  
Grumpy sighed. "Things will get better, you'll see."  
Emma raised an eyebrow. "And you know this why?"  
Grumpy smiled. He walked over to the dumpster behind the apartment building. He came back with a potted plant. The fern that Emma recognized from the apartment. The one Mary Margaret had placed in her room when she had moved in. It was a little crumpled, but was still together.  
Grumpy handed her the plant. "Take it to the sheriff's office, water it and keep it in the sun. Everything can bounce back with a little love and care." He gave Emma a tender smile. "Even mothers and daughters."

Emma accepted the fern. "For being named Grumpy, you sure are a hopeless romantic." Emma wiped a tear from her face and stood up. She placed the fern in the car as well.  
Grumpy frowned. "I wasn't always named Grumpy." He opened Emma's car door for her.  
Emma gave a sad smile. The census. "Right, it was Dreamy once."  
Grumpy nodded. "Just remember, Snow's only memories of a mother are of Regina. And I suppose Cora. Not a great role model. She thinks with the darkness back and her memories of it, that you are best kept safe at a distance." Grumpy frowned. "Someone however, will try to make her see reason."  
Emma closed her eyes. "Thanks, Grumpy."  
Grumpy gave a curt nod. "My princess."  
Emma frowned. "I'm not a princess here."  
Grumpy laughed and walked back towards Snow's apartment. "A true princess is a state of mind, not a title."

Emma moved her stuff into the sheriff's office. August didn't ask as she hung up her clothes on the bars and put her box inside a cell. Emma placed the fern on her desk and went to get some water. When she came back, a soft pillow and blanket had been taken out of the closet and someone had made the bed in the cell. August was gone, but Emma knew he had done it. She watered her plant and made her new residence as comfy as she could. But not like home. She already had a home. This was only temporary.  
***


	24. Without a father

Sorry for the long break. We just got power back yesterday after 4 days without electricity after a rough wind storm. Thanks for all the reviews!

***  
August needed a walk. Emma's somber strength as she moved her stuff into a jail cell had made his head hurt. She was incredible, even after everything she had been through. The woman that he first saw to ask directions from was NOT the same woman who just watered a plant. So much had changed though August wasn't sure that he could be credited with any of it.

August kept walking towards the workshop. Not because he wanted to talk to his father at this moment, but because that was where his feet took him. He supposed he needed to talk and that had been enough.

The old man, Gepetto, was carving away at something that looked like it was going to be a swan. August took a deep breath and greeted his father.  
Gepetto raised his head. "Hey, come in. Is this an official call or were you able to get away for a moment?"  
August just stood there, silent, not sure that anything of any great help would come out of his mouth. He had always prided himself in his adult life on being quick with words, spinning them like webs, drawing people in. But lately he found that words abandoned him. Which was probably for the best, since most of his words before coming here, had been lies.  
Gepetto turned his head to the side. "Is something wrong?"

August opened his mouth to say no, which would have been an obvious lie, but instead anger rushed out. "Of course there is, I am a Stranger in a strange land and even one to my own father."  
Gepetto blinked for a second. "You are my son?" His confusion seemed unusual.  
August took a deep breath. "I suppose that I don't appear as you would have envisioned me, perhaps a bit more rugged, wilder, sadder. But you don't see it at all do you?" August put his hands into his jacket pockets as though he didn't care. But he did.  
Gepetto frowned. "I only ever had one son, his name was Pinnochio, not August. You told me your name was August."  
August picked up his father's lathe. "I am Pinnochio. I have been called August for so long, it just feels more natural."

Gepetto seemed to be piecing things together. He stood and squinted through his glasses. "Why would you change your name, my son?" He inquired, still uncertain as to if he was being fooled.  
It was great to hear Gepetto call him, my son, but August knew it was a mannerism as opposed to actual belief. But he would take what could get for now. "I had to. Nobody believed me."  
Gepetto nodded. "We would have believed you."  
August shook his head. "No, the rest of the world outside of Storybrooke. I spent my life here as August, a name for the month of the year, the one that I arrived in, because apparently that was more real then the truth. Apparently, wood doesn't turn into little boys here. Apparently Pinnochio is a puppet's name. A mockery of a man, who will never be anything." His voice was becoming harsh again. "I spent my life being told that what I knew before, that was a lie."

Gepetto seemed to see something that he hadn't before. He smiled broadly and came close and hugged August, to comfort his little boy. "And I had told you to be honest and true. That must have been very difficult."  
August accepted the embrace, but he was still angry. Gepetto seemed to sense this and released him. "It was good then, that you had Emma. Someone to see you for who you really were."

Those were the wrong words. August clenched his fists. "No father, I did not have Emma. And Emma did not have me."  
Gepetto's eyes widened. "What went wrong? Did the tree not work correctly?"  
August shook his head. His gaze was sad instead of angry. "No, it worked correctly. I did not."  
A silence settled on them. Painful silence as Gepetto became lost in thought.  
"So..." He began.

August filled in for him. "That's right, I was told I was being delusional, that I was a liar. I felt trapped with a hell of a foster father and when given the chance to escape, I did. I couldn't nurse a baby, I didn't even know how to make a bottle correctly. So I left her behind. 8 months into my job and I never saw her again. Not until here. Emma's own son, Henry, had to finish my job for me."  
There was anger in his voice again, but it was self-anger.  
Gepetto reached to touch his shoulder, to comfort him like a man instead of a boy. But August pulled back. "I was selfish, unkind and dishonest. I may have been made of flesh, but I was not a real boy. And I don't suppose I ever will be again."  
He pulled up his pant leg to reveal the still wooden right leg. Before Gepetto could speak, August turned and walked off.

He was gone for less than a minute when a woman came out of the back room of the shop. "Poor Pinnochio. A boy can not expect to be a man, not without a father. You lost your father and mother quite young too, didn't you?"  
Gepetto nodded. "But you already know that."  
The woman smiled. "Of course, I know all there is to know about you, Gepetto."  
"What do you want, Cora?" Gepetto asked, nervously playing with his carving tools.  
"Want? No, I am here to help." Cora graciously replied. She pulled her right hand out from inside of her cloak. She sat on the table the wooden doll she had been holding.  
Gepetto's eyes widened seeing his long imprisoned father sitting before him. "Where did you?"  
Cora shook her head. "It matters not where, but what. I am prepared to offer you a very nice...reward, for your services." She whisked her fingers about and the doll rose from the table and onto the floor where it spun and rose until a full sized, flesh instead of wood man stood before them.  
"What is going on?" The man gasping looking around at the very unfamiliar territory and the strange people before him.  
Cora spoke first. She gestured to Gepetto. "This is your son, your little Gepetto. He is all grown up now, but he has finally been able to rescue you from your imprisonment. You are free." She smiled as the man gazed at Gepetto in amazement. "You are Gepetto?" He asked.

Gepetto was astounded. He merely nodded, childlike again in awe and amazement. His father embraced him. "You seem to have done well for yourself. Are all these carvings yours?"  
Gepetto made a vocal agreement, tears streaming down his cheeks. He seemed lost for words.  
His father, hugged him again. "You remembered everything I taught you it seems. You are even better then me it looks like."  
His father's eyes looked around surveying everything with intrigue. He looked at Cora. "Is this your wife?"  
Cora smiled before Gepetto could respond. "Oh no, I'm just a friend." She turned to Gepetto who was wide eyed now, everything sinking in. "I'm going to head home and give you and your father some time to catch up. Remember what else I might have to offer. I'll come back when the swan is done. Then we will talk."  
Cora slinked off and Gepetto was left to enjoy an evening with his long lost father. But he couldn't help wondering where August, no Pinocchio, had stormed off to and what to do about him and their obviously broken relationship. But that could wait until tomorrow, right? His son was obviously angry, he would let him cool off first. Gepetto hated arguments, he never knew how to fix things. They weren't made of wood. And he always was good at fixing things wooden things. He poured himself and his father a glass of wine and they talked late into the night before turning in.


	25. The game changer

New reviewers, yay!

Regina having dark magic or plain magic? You decide. This is the ultimate question with each character is it not? Evil or not? Or some Whiter Shade of Pale.

And to reflect on that, Regina and Henry.

***  
Regina was up late too. She could hear her mother sleeping peacefully in the spare bedroom down the hall. Her mother had been smiling a lot today, which was never a good sign. She was just as frightening as she had been when Regina was younger and Regina was pissed with herself, with her weakness. She had magic too for fairies' sake, but she had just let her walk right back into her life and now Henry was suffering for it.  
Regina sat in the kitchen, watching the clock tick by. She had a glass of scotch in her hand, but she was so frazzled that she wasn't even drinking it.  
She didn't even hear the footsteps coming down the stairs.  
"It's 3am." The voice commented.  
Regina sighed. "Go back to bed, Henry."  
Henry just stood there, but he looked half turned towards the stairs. Regina turned to look at him. He looked drawn and tired like he had been fighting a lot. Which he had. Her mother had kept him hopping, running errands, playing nice with her. Regina's eyes widened when she realised why he was half turned. "Oh, God, I didn't mean it like that. You are released from that command."  
Henry visibly relaxed, but just stood there. "Thank you." He gave a weak smile.  
Regina had a lump growing in her throat. She put her head down on the counter. "You may sit, if you would like." She sighed. "But it would be better if you went back to bed." She worded her comments carefully.  
Henry did sit in the stool next to her. "It wouldn't be better for you."  
Regina looked back up and gave a quick, dry laugh. "Since when do you care about me?"  
There was a pause, before Henry sighed. "You are my mother. You raised me."  
This had to be true, everything that he said did. He wasn't aloud to directly lie to her, Cora's bargain had made it such. Regina's mood brightened a bit.

Henry continued however a bit of malice seeping in, through his weariness. "However, if you hadn't been so damn controlling about Emma and just played nice together, maybe things would have been better off."  
"Henry, don't swear." Regina jumped on his case. Henry blinked and frowned.  
"Fairies, that is another command. Ugh!" Regina took a drink of scotch, focusing on the burn.

She sighed. "I'm not removing that one though. It's a mother thing." She gave a hollow laugh at this.  
Henry gave a painful smile, but it was a real one. "That's okay. There are probably a few things I shouldn't learn from Emma."  
Regina turned to look at Henry. She saw a boy in stature, but she was having trouble seeing one in mindset and presence. He had grown so much in such a short time.  
"Would you make me some hot chocolate?" Henry asked. "You know how I like it."  
Regina gave a grim smile as she made the beverage, stirring in the cinnamon. Stupid Snow. She shook her head. "You are so much like Snow, you know that? Even down to the stupid favorite drink."  
When Henry paled slightly, Regina had her answer. "Snow and you talked about something that you didn't tell my mother, didn't you?"  
Henry was forced to nod.  
Regina sat back down. She took another drink of scotch, but then she pushed it away. She was mentally shot sure, but she knew she needed to be clear-headed for this conversation.  
"You aren't going to ask, what it was?" Henry asked searching her face.  
Regina shook her head. "No need, your reaction was enough."  
She handed Henry a napkin for his hot chocolate and gave him a kind smile.

"Don't worry, it's the good things about Snow mostly. Her daring, her bravery, her compassion, her stubbornness...well I suppose that got her in trouble too." Regina trailed off seeing him smile.

Good.  
Henry took a drink of the chocolate. "Why do you hate her? I mean I know about the secret she swore she would never tell that she told, but there has to be something more. She was just a kid. It can't be that she has dark magic. You have dark magic too."  
Regina closed her eyes. He already knew too much, he was so young.  
"I didn't always have dark magic. Usually you have to be born with magic." Regina replied.  
Henry nodded to show he was listening.  
"But Snow White was born with it." Henry commented sorrowfully.  
Regina nodded. "And there's a long story about how one led to the other. Which I hope you never have to hear."  
Henry did not challenge this and he frowned. "So Snow's magic and yours are the same? She gave it to you?" This seemed to bother him most of all. Regina didn't want him to leave the room thinking about that.  
Regina shook her head sadly. "Not willingly. Never willingly." This was true in some way.  
There was a tense silence as Henry processed this.

"Would you get rid of the magic, for good, if there was a way?" Henry asked.  
Part of Regina screamed yes, yes, rip it out, but part of her held onto it like a blanket, like it would protect her, like it could bring her happiness and contentment. Regina's hesitation in answering was answer enough for Henry.  
"No, I guess." Henry sighed.  
There was another tense silence. Regina longed to say yes, to tell him that she would do pretty much anything to get rid of it and the darkness it left in her heart. But she couldn't bring herself to lie so openly.  
"I wish I could say yes." Regina finally admitted. Henry surveyed her closely with his eyes. There was a long silence between them.

"We need another Operation Cobra." He finally stated.  
Regina raised an eyebrow. She had heard that phrase thrown around between Henry and Emma. Was he allowing her into his secret? "What's that?"  
Henry smiled. "Emma and I used that code name to talk about figuring out everyone's identities. Their real identities."  
Regina frowned. Their secret meet ups were really all about that? "Well, now you know them, you have a census even."  
Henry shook his head. "I'm beginning to think, nothing is ever that simple. Knowing a person's name, doesn't tell you much about them." Regina couldn't agree more.

"So what now then?" Regina asked.  
Henry grinned and pulled a notebook and paper from his robe pocket. "We need info. And for that we are going to have to play up both sides. The war, it isn't between Emma and you. However, lines are being drawn and we will have to stand somewhere. Unless we are double agents." He ripped off a note.  
"Aladdin?" Regina read.  
"It's your code name. Regina-Gina-Genie-Aladdin. I think it hides it pretty well." Henry rattled. "Here's mine."  
Regina took the second paper. "Rapunzel?"  
Henry smiled. "I've lived in an isolated tower for a long time. And your mother, she'll never guess, and if she gets suspicious, she will think about Emma with her long blond hair and not me."  
Regina suddenly became fearful. She thought of her the swan on her dining room table. That was just her mother playing around. She shuddered to think what she might do, if she actually considered Emma a threat. She hated the woman, but she wasn't looking to destroy her.

"This isn't a game, Henry. Someone is going to get hurt."  
Henry looked at her fiercely. "I know. Too many people already have been. It's got to stop."  
Regina sagged and grabbed her drink again. "It could be you. You could be the one to die." She almost lost him already, and Regina couldn't bear the thought of losing him again.  
Henry gave a sad smile. "There are worse things than death."

Regina frowned. He had been willing to risk death before, to ensure that Emma believed. And he would risk it again it seemed. Regina had never been in more awe and in love with this little boy, then ever before. It must have showed, because Henry beamed.  
He hopped off of the stool and started to walk back to bed.  
"Goodnight, mom." He smiled. "You should really go to bed."

Regina closed her eyes. And a tear trailed down her face.  
There certainly were things worse then death.  
Henry was still hopeful, despite the commands.  
But, Cora could do so much worse to Henry.  
And she could do so much worse.

The beast flipped and turned inside of her. It burned for magic to be used. It wanted Henry, but that was the one thing it couldn't have. Regina clenched the pieces of paper with the code names and with a flick of her fingers, they burned away in the air, the ashes settling to the counter.  
The evidence was gone and the beast assuaged for the moment. Regina swallowed the last of the scotch and turned off the kitchen light.


	26. Once a Genie

***  
Rumplestiltskin was sneaking about the closed storage room in the sheriff's office. It was the middle of the night, so there shouldn't have been anyone there. But when he had gotten to the door that walked up into the connection hallway to exit through the side door he ran into August.  
"What are you doing?" August growled sleepily. He looked at the evidence box, a refrigerated evidence box at that, under Rumpelstiltskin's arm. August was wearing his clothes, but it looked like he had been sleeping in them. He shined his flashlight on the box.  
Rumpelstiltskin sighed. "What are you going to do to stop me anyway?"  
August frowned. "Really, you are going to use that against me? I know I can't stop you, I just want to know what you are upto. You could just ask during the day, and most people would likely give you what you are looking for, out of fear."  
Rumpelstiltskin nodded. "True that. But what if I don't want people to know what I am planning. Thus, the cover of darkness."

August looked again at the box. "Isn't that from the murder case against Mary Margaret?"  
When he looked up, Rumpelstiltskin, however was gone.  
August hated magic.

He went down into the storage room to see what was missing. Everything looked in order, so he fished around. It was a refrigerated item, so he opened the refrigerator. Nothing appeared to be missing. It was a mess in there though. He closed the door and went back upstairs.  
Opening the file cabinet upstairs as quietly as he could, so as to not wake Emma who was sleeping in the cell nearby, August searched for the case file.  
He grabbed and closed the file cabinet. He sat down at the desk and used his flashlight to read through it.  
"What are you doing?" Emma groaned from inside the cell.  
August swore under his breath. "Reading."  
Emma turned and looked at the clock on the wall. "It's 4 am."  
August sighed. "I know. Couldn't sleep."

Emma was about to flip back over, but then she sighed and stumbled over to the desk.  
"So, you are reading case files to put you to sleep?" Emma quipped.  
August closed the file. Emma grabbed it from him with a speed he hadn't thought a drowsy woman had. "Mary Margaret's murder charges?" Emma frowned.  
August came clean. "Rumplestiltskin was stealing something from the case a few minutes ago. I was trying to figure out what it was."  
Emma frowned too. "And?"  
August sighed. "What's in the refrigerated box?"  
Emma froze. Even in the dark, she looked older and tired. "The heart."  
August's eyes widened. "Kathryn's heart or rather Abigail's?"  
Emma frowned. "That's what the DNA test said, but then Sydney said he faked it, when Kathryn showed up alive."  
August took the file back from Emma. "So, it could be hers and he's lying or it could be anybody's?"  
Emma shivered. "Either way it's bad." Emma thought to Sydney. He wasn't in the census. In fact, with everything that had happened in the last week, Emma wasn't sure she had seen him since his arrest. "Where is the insane asylum?" Emma asked.

August raised an eyebrow. "We have one?"

The next morning, Emma was led to a door, by a black nurse. "Only our staff goes down there and a few visitors."  
Emma smiled grimly. "Like Regina?"  
The nurse sighed. "Yes, she visited down there a few times a year."  
Emma waited until the nurse pushed in the code and August and her descended the stairs.  
It seemed empty. No staff at the front desk, no janitors and as they looked in each cell, no prisoners, though each door was indeed labeled. Emma got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.  
"I think that we are going to see these people real soon." Emma bit her lip. "Fighting against us."  
August put a hand on her shoulder. "We need to start gathering people too then."  
Emma gave a small whine. "I'm not ready for this. I don't know how to do anything. I don't even remember everyone's names yet. I don't recognize half the people in here from anywhere. How I am supposed to be the leader if I don't have anything to work with?" Emma ranted, her anxiety level increasing.  
"You won't have to be the leader." A voice responded.  
Emma and August turned around. There was no one in sight.  
"Inside the desk drawer." The voice added.  
August went behind the the nurse's desk and opened the drawer. Inside was a small hand mirror. With a face in it.  
Emma came around. "The Magic Mirror. Great!" she mumbled. Aren't you supposed to be in a much bigger mirror?"  
"I prefer Sydney." the man replied. "And I can be in any mirror I want. Or not in a mirror, if that pleases me too. That much has changed here." Sydney sighed. "That's not the matter at hand though. You won't have to be leader, as I hear it, your father Prince James is gathering forces of loyal followers. "  
August clenched his fists. "Why are you talking to us, or rather spying on us?"  
Emma rolled her eyes. "Because everything is still the same around here. People have different names, some have powers, but really nothing much has changed around here. Sydney snooped then, and he snoops now."  
The man in the mirror agreed. "Not much has changed from what it was. However you are still in confusion about what that was."

Emma squared her shoulders. "Why are we talking to you, aren't you on Regina's team? Aren't you our enemy? I've been fooled once, but not twice Sydney."  
Sydney closed his eyes. "I'm on team Regina, if you must have me pick a side. But that..." he paused for emphasis, "Does not mean I am on team Cora. And my advice to you, would be to see that the two of those are not compatible. Cora is your enemy today and though Regina stands by her side, allegiance is not love. And without love, there is no loyalty."

Emme frowned, but she considered his words. "You love her, though she doesn't love you. However, you are loyal to her for some reason other then that, right?"

The man in the mirror nodded. "I know what it is like to be cursed. For every effort to escape your fate to be dashed. I know the price of freedom." Sydney paused and closed his eyes. "I have always been cursed. Once a genie, always a genie."

Sydney began to disappear from the mirror. "Wait!" Emma yelled.  
The man in the mirror seemed confused that she had called him back. "Yes?"  
Emma paused. What was she going to ask? She was just so confused and August while he was a good deputy wasn't any more the wiser on most of what was going on.  
"Cora killed the man Regina loved, that's what Snow White said. That the revealing of her secret, caused Cora to know they were leaving and kill him. Is that why Regina hates her? Or is there more?" Emma asked. "And why would she team up with her if she hated her?"

The face in the mirror sighed. "There is always more to every story. As for allegiance, fear is perhaps the greatest motivator." The man sighed.  
Sydney took a deep breath. "I'm not the most honorable of men, even as a genie. There once was a man whom I granted three wishes to, the kindest man I have ever met, who used his wishes to help others and not himself. But just like all wishes that I have granted, they went horribly wrong." Sydney paused. "Snow's father, despite his shortcomings was an incredible heart. He gave me my freedom, something no one in thousands of years had been willing to do."

Emma frowned. This was the first she had really heard about her grandfather's character, other than he loved his people and her grandmother. But he had wished on a lamp, so he couldn't have been that smart. Just like everyone else around here. Herself included. "Your point?"

"Once a wish has been spoken, just like magic, just like most injustices, it can't be taken back. You would do well to remember that."  
And with that the face in the mirror disappeared. Emma sighed.


	27. Heart to Heart

It was like you knew Temo, that the next chapter was about Snow. Young Snow that is!

The next one will be much longer, I promise.

***  
Young Snow lay in her bed. Regina and Natalie seemed to be talking a lot and not in her presence. She had since given up trying to kill herself, mostly because she was worried her father would catch her and she had yet to confront him about his part in everything. She was also worried that she would give him a heart attack, if he knew. If he really knew what he had allowed to happen. If he knew what he had really received.

Since her first magic that fateful day with the magic apple that Cora helped her make, Snow had felt a gnawing sensation clawing at her chest every time she was tired or upset. Snow had stopped horseback riding, because it had reminded her of what she had destroyed in some way, she stopped going into the garden because she was constantly reminded of her misery every time she passed the apple tree. She now spent most of her days reading in the library or lying in bed. If she was sleeping, the darkness in her chest, seemed not to bother her. At least, not too much. Sometimes she still awoke with horrible dreams, but Natalie was always there to comfort her.

Snow was lying in her bed, trying to ignore the flip flopping in her chest and the growling of what Cora had called the beast. Regina knocked on her door, which was cracked open per request of Natalie. Snow hadn't tried anything in the past few months, but Natalie still seemed nervous.  
Snow mumbled something.  
"I'm taking that as approval to come in." Regina remarked cynically.  
Snow flipped over in bed onto her side, so that her back was to Regina. "You'd come in anyway." Snow moped. She knew why she was being so bitter, and she sensed Regina did too.

Regina sat down in the chair next to her bed. "My mother." She began. Snow tensed. "She was a hell of a mess. She still is, I guess. She wouldn't ever admit this of course, which made her all the worse."  
Regina cleared her throat, becoming tense herself. She hated talking about her mother. But this had to be done. "However, I am not sure that your path is much better. You know your failings and you fear yourself. But this moping around and self pity is helping no one, least of all yourself."  
Snow gave a heavy sigh. Why did she have to talk about this, why couldn't she just go away?  
Regina did not leave however. "Can't you feel the darkness around here. You are making everyone else miserable."

Snow blinked away tears. Every one else had tried to comfort her in the past few months, she was not prepared for such a harsh statement. She flipped around and looked Regina in the eyes. "I'm not trying to." She paused and studied Regina through her tears. "But it wants out. And I can't let it out."  
"What wants out?" Regina asked with a tone that implied that she just wanted to hear it from Snow, but already thought she knew.  
Snow closed her eyes. "The beast."  
Regina shook her head. "That is ridiculous nonsense that my mother made up. You seemed perfectly fine before she said that. A bit bratty maybe, spoiled and rude. But not evil."  
Snow opened her eyes. Here Regina was insulting her to face again and it still took her by surprise. "You hate me." She stated plainly, no question in her tone.

It was Regina's turn for surprise. "No." She paused. "I hate what you are doing, but I don't hate you." She didn't love Snow for sure, but she didn't hate her. This was completely true and for a brief moment Regina realized she sounded like her father, talking about her mother. Which of course did not comfort her in the least.

"You should." Was Snow's response before she flipped back over in the bed. "I'm destroying you."  
Regina swallowed her mouth becoming dry.  
Snow continued. "I killed my mother. I ripped her heart out of her chest and took it with me." Snow sobbed. "Think of what I could do to you. What I have already done. None of it by devious intent, just from being around you. I don't want to hurt you. I'm sorry that you had to be my mother."  
Regina let the statement hang for a moment. Snow hated herself, but it was because she cared about Regina. Regina frowned.  
"What if there was a way, to get rid of the beast? Would you do it?"  
Snow flipped back over and with a raised eyebrow she asked. "Is there?"  
Regina nodded.  
"Then yes, please, yes. It only wants to hurt and kill. I don't want to do that anymore. I'm not strong enough, one day it will beat me and I will become it, the beast. I don't want to be like your mother." Snow sat up in bed half set and determined and yet crying.  
Regina stood. "Neither do I."


	28. A gathering of hearts and minds

Nope, you imagined it Temo. Or you might be psychic...

Here's a really long one. Enjoy!

***  
James stood in the town square. He had made his rounds, trying to get anyone who had been loyal to him and Snow before, to agree to back him once again. Without Snow. It pained him to realize that once against there was something standing between them.  
Apparently, things had been harder then he had imagined. People were so afraid with magic back and all their memories of the suffering of both worlds that most people had been hesitant, some had even rejected him outright.  
Granny and Red appeared out of the Diner, the first two to arrive. James wanted to meet in public, outside. If they couldn't meet now, when there was no fight yet, then they wouldn't be ready to stand beside him when the fight actually came.  
"It's going to be a real sad number." James sighed, greeting them somberly.  
"It was a real sad number before, and we managed." Red replied with a sad smile.  
"Did we?" James muttered. He knew he could be cynical in front of Red. She would understand.

But Red glared at him. "If you can't be positive, then how are we supposed to stand behind you? I know this sucks, but we can't take this like a dog, lying down to be beaten."  
James nodded. He had been so optimistic once; he could try to be so again. He put on a more stoic face as Grumpy and the other dwarves arrived.  
Grumpy greeted him with a slap on his arm. "We may have stood behind Snow before and I while we wish it was the both of you that we stand behind, we stand behind you today, Prince James."  
James gave a thankful smile. "You don't know how much that means, Grumpy."  
Grumpy gave a gruff look, but his eyes twinkled.  
James turned his attention to Frederick who had arrived, without Abigail. He looked anxious.  
"I don't know you very well, here or otherwise, but I know you are the man who risked a great deal to help my Abigail rescue me. I can't say there wasn't something in it for you, because there was, but I haven't forgotten this." Frederick shifted his weight. "But we can not be here, you have to understand."  
James frowned. "Why not?"  
"Abigail won't come. I figured you would rather hear it in person, rather than a cold rejection."  
James was hurt. He knew it was fake what had occurred between them, but Abigail and her husband had stood beside them before the curse. "Surely what had happened here, has not made her angry with me? We all have had much to forgive."  
Frederick shook his head. "She isn't angry and neither am I." And then he put his hands in his pockets. "I think she more then most, knows what is at stake here."  
James disagreed and he clenched his teeth. "I know exactly what is at stake here."  
Frederick shook his head again. "I don't think you do. She doesn't think this will work."  
James frowned. "She doesn't think we can succeed?"  
"Nope, worse." Frederick replied. He focused solely on James as he continued. "She thinks you are going to die."  
There was a silence in which crickets could have been heard if it was that time of night.  
Frederick awkwardly turned and began to walk away.

Archie, or Jiminy Cricket took that opportunity to arrive. He looked sorrowful too.  
James closed his eyes. "Where is Gepetto?"  
"Don't worry, I will stand beside you. My conscious would not allow me to stand elsewhere." Jiminy began.  
James cut him off angrily. "Where is Gepetto?"  
Red reached out to calm him, but James shook her off.  
Jiminy lowered his head. "He's not coming. He has..." Here he hesitated. "Chosen other priorities."  
James met his gaze with fierceness. "What?"  
Even Granny seemed shocked. She questioned Jiminy. "He has left us? As in Switzerland? Or has he deserted us completely?"  
Jiminy rubbed his tired and worn face. "He has been given an offer he couldn't refuse. I tried to make him see reason, but I was as unsuccessful as last time."  
James rose from his thoughts, angrier than he had been in his memory. "The worm rescues his own son at the cost of my child growing up alone, without parents, he now he chooses to abandon our cause too." James fumed and this time Red didn't let him brush her away.  
"James." Red growled. "We can't be like this. We can't not let our anger get in the way or we will not survive. We can't be the bad guys. I can't be the bad guy. You can't be the bad guy." Red met him straight in the eye.  
James saw fear in her eyes. He closed his eyes and swallowed. Red reminded him so much of Snow. She understood Snow better than anyone here and she stood beside him.  
"You are right." James nodded and gave a weak smile. "I appreciate everyone here. I'm just worried."

"I stand beside you." A voice called out. August strode over wearing his deputy badge and his leather jacket. "I'm not much of man and I can't take back what I have done to your family, but I am ready to rot, before I'd repeat my mistakes." His face was pained, but his eyes were fierce.  
James was angry at August too, but squared his shoulders and held out his hand, putting on a display of noble acceptance. "Welcome. Any man that stands up for what they believe is right, to protect those that matter to them, at cost of their own lives, that is a true man."  
August shook his hand. "Then I hope to be one."  
James frowned. "Where's Emma?"  
August smiled. "She thought of a few more allies."

At this, Emma pulled up in the sheriff car. Inside the back, were several kids.  
"Hansel, Gretel," Granny greeted the first two to hop out. Their father reluctantly hopped out after them.  
They joined the dwarves, and their father held out his hand to James. "My kids are better people than me. But I will be damned if I didn't stand beside them."

The last little girl to hop out was Grace. She stood back from everyone, up against the car. Emma gave her a smile and ushered her forward.  
Grace stood before James. "My father will not be coming. We had quite an argument last night and we are no longer speaking. But I am here." She frowned. "I have called in a few fairies to help, the ones I trust. They should be here any minute."  
James frowned at this. "The ones you trust?" He hadn't too many close interactions with fairies other then the Blue Fairy and she had seemed trustworthy and helpful. But then she had lied about the tree for Gepetto according to Jiminy.  
Grace shuffled her feet. "You know of my father's abilities. Since his departure, but before the curse, my services had been utilized." Grace sighed and lowered her gaze. "The fairies took me in, they sought to prevent my talents being utilized by anyone that felt they could threaten me. They gave me a nice life here, a father and mother. But my memories are back, just like everyone elses, and I will not be fooled again."  
Emma put her hand on her shoulder to comfort Grace.

Grumpy spoke next. "What did they make you do?"  
Grace raised her eyes. "No one made me do anything. They asked and I opened a portal. Once I realized that I had inherited the family skill set, than I opened a second portal for my own purposes. But the curse began to take effect, so I wasn't sure it ever worked. However, once magic arrived here, the connection was finished."  
"There is more than one way to make someone do something, other than force. Where did this portal lead? What was it for?" Red asked.

Grace did not need to reply. Henry did. "Cora."  
Henry had come around the corner and no one had noticed until that moment. Emma's eyes brightened for a moment, but her happiness was quickly dashed. Henry looked pale and miserable. And behind him was Regina.  
"That's not true." Grace stuttered. "It was for my father."  
Regina smiled grimly. "You are both right. Your portal worked. Your father arrived back in the forest. Then the curse took effect so he got sucked here with the rest of us. And magic disappeared, until now. My mother just took use of the reopened portal when it returned."

"What do you want, Regina?" Emma asked, taking charge. "And what the hell happened to my son?" She growled at this and cast a worried look at Henry. Henry gave a weak smile.  
Regina took a step forward to show Emma and the group did not intimidate her. "Everyone here knows what kind of person my mother is. I need not have to explain how difficult she has been making things."  
She addressed the group. "I'm here because, while I hate the lot of you and wish I could be rid of you, I really would rather focus my current efforts on getting rid my mother. So we seem to temporarily have a common goal, which I am willing to work with you on." Regina gestured to Henry. "I am leaving Henry with you, for the time being, as a measure of goodwill. While my mother has not laid a finger on him, the constant fear that her presence brings is...draining to say the least."

Emma took note for the first time that Regina looked like she hadn't been sleeping well for days. The makeup she was wearing barely covered her dark circles under her eyes.  
Emma looked at her father. He had consulted Regina before. While she was a cruel and cold person, she seemed to be reliable at least or he wouldn't have trusted her, would he?

James seemed to watch her studying him. He smiled and took charge again. "Regina, you have shown yourself to be a woman who keeps her promises in the past." He gestured around them, "despite the consequences." The company of sorry looking warriors seemed to agree and did not contest this. "We shall be of one side as long as it is..." he seemed to struggle for a princely phrase. "...mutually beneficial to both of us."

Regina smiled graciously. "I'm glad we can be civil about this." She stroked Henry's shoulder and gave him a brief motherly looking smile, that was not missed by Emma, before gesturing that he should join them. Emma also didn't miss the look he gave her back. It was the first real sign of concern that she had ever seen him give towards Regina. It was almost as if Emma could see a window into his early childhood, how he must have looked at Regina when she was the only mother he had ever known.  
Henry walked towards Emma slowly and then collapsed into her arms burying his head in her chest. Emma stroked his hair. "Hey, shh. It's going to be okay." She whispered.  
Henry looked up. He looked so much older then 10 in his eyes. "You were right."  
Emma frowned. "About what?"  
Henry gave a deep sigh. "Her mother is 10 times scarier than her."  
Emma looked up towards Regina again, but she had gone, vanished like smoke. The group stood around, now on edge and nervous.

In that moment, three fairies arrived. Emma recognized Nova and the fairy called Daisy from her last visit. But the last one, who looked the youngest and the most frightened, was maybe even close to Henry in physical age. Emma knew she had never seen her before, but something seemed familiar about her, but she couldn't place what.  
Grumpy brightened seeing Nova, but she barely smiled at him. She was super focused and since the other fairies behind her looked more nervous then the rest of the group, she appeared to be the reluctant leader. She addressed Emma and James.  
"We three are here to stand beside you. We are not here representing the other fairies, merely our own pasts have lent us a sort of compassion towards your cause. Each of us has our own reasons for being here, which we shall disclose if we feel necessary."

Nova paused and shuttered. "I'm not a leader, I'm sure how to do this. None of us do. We are all novices. We are also all created fairies. We were not born with magic. We risk much by coming here. But we each feel that we risk more by standing by and watching."  
Emma nodded and gave a gesture with her head that they should join the group. James spoke and greeted them warmly. "None of us are much of leaders. We have merely been thrust into the roles that we needed to take. Your help is more than appreciated, it is an honor."  
Nova nodded and the other fairies followed suit. "Then we have a few things to discuss."


	29. The promise

What a lot of you have been waiting for. What really went down between Regina and Young Snow.

**  
Regina led young Snow into the garden. It was late at night and the whole castle was asleep. In the garden stood Natalie and the fairy Novilla. Off to the side stood Regina's father and Snow's father. The later embraced Snow with great fervor when he saw her. Snow began to cry. "You must know everything for you to be here."  
Her father rubbed her back, holding her tight. "There, there, this will all be over soon. I love you, my dear, even now. I will be waiting right here."  
Snow met his gaze with confusion. "You love me even now?" She was certain that he would not, if he had known, but here he was.  
King Leopold smiled tenderly. "Yes, even now. I have been worried, no doubt, and over the years I have lost many a night's sleep over your mother and I's deal with the Dark One, but I have never stopped loving you. You and your mother both are incredibly strong women."  
Snow gave a sad smile. "Am I a lot like my mother?"  
Her father smiled gently. "Yes and no. You may have her heart, but you are still your own person, my dear Snow White. That is how it must be. It is a good thing."  
Snow nodded. She turned to look at Regina and Natalie.  
Both were pale and tense. Snow walked over towards them. She dropped to her knees. "Do what you must." She was half expecting a magical knife or some sort of torture. She didn't know what to expect really, but she was going to accept it.

Natalie gestured that Snow should take her hand. She led her to a jar sitting on a table. "You must do one thing." She started. "You must not let go, no matter what. Do you understand? You must not let go of my hand until this is over, until the fairy says so, or you will kill me."  
Snow swallowed. She gazed into the eyes of her one constant childhood companion. Even though she was several years older than her and a servant, she was the closest thing to a sister that she ever had. And she could kill her. The beast rumbled inside and Snow closed her eyes. She nodded. "I understand."  
"Look at me." Natalie commanded. But Snow didn't consider her bold. Snow opened her eyes. Natalie seemed to search them. "You must fight it. You must be stronger then it, do you understand?"  
Snow nodded fervently. "I do. And I hope that I can be."  
Regina stared her down. "If you are not, then your only friend in this world, she will suffer with the beast for the rest of her days."  
Snow closed her eyes and trembled. The beast was awake now. It was excited. "I am stronger than you, go away." Snow muttered.  
Natalie squeezed her hand. "You are."  
She reached for the jar. Instantly a beam of light flowed from it into her and the connection between their hands was lit up as well.  
Novilla flew down and touched Snow on the chest. A jolt of energy shocked Snow and she opened her eyes. The fairy looked pained, but she continued her work, she ran her hand and her magic down over Natalie and down into the jar.  
Snow could feel instantly energy leaving her. Like she had just done a run across the palace. Like she had just cried for a whole morning. It was a good feeling, exhilarating, not frightening at all. It was like draining poison from her veins. She looked at Natalie, excitement in her eyes, but her brief happiness was soon destroyed. Natalie was gritting her teeth and she looked older and tired.  
It was then that it clicked for Snow that her darkness was leaving her, but it had to pass through Natalie first. She was hurting her. The beast was briefly rejoicing, but Snow could feel its energy draining. It began to rattle against her harder then before. Snow bit her lip. She was going to beat this. It couldn't win. "You are leaving me, I am winning. " Snow muttered.  
Natalie seemed to hear this and squeezed her hand harder.  
The beast panicked. "You are killing yourself, you can not live without me. I am your eyes and your ears… your hair and your blood." It spoke soothingly to Snow.  
"You are not my heart." Snow responded with increasing intensity. She was sure the fairy and maybe even Regina could hear her now. "That is my mother's."  
The beast sighed. "True, but you would be not, but a lump of muscle without a chest to beat in. You would have no power over anything. You would be as good as dead."  
"I don't care about power." Snow muttered.  
The beast nodded. "Sure you do. Everyone does. Think of all the things we could do together. You could set things right. You could give your step-mother back what she always wanted. I could do that."  
Snow bit her lip harder and it started to bleed. "I don't believe you. I didn't start with a heart. I had to have someone else's. You may be able to bring him back, but you can't bring back Daniel's heart."  
Regina must have heard this, because she visible stiffened.  
Snow continued her argument, well aware that she was talking out loud, but it was easier that way, she didn't have to fold inward, twisted inside herself to converse with it.  
The beast seemed to shrug. "You didn't need a heart to survive. Someone gave you one, but we could do well enough without it. So could he. He wouldn't need a heart if I made him."  
Snow was visibly shaking now and Natalie had to tighten her grip.  
"Don't listen to it." Natalie growled, something very unlike her.  
Snow nodded. "Go away, you tell nothing but lies. I have been fooled once by sweet words and I will not be again."  
The beast seemed to see that it was still growing weaker and that nothing was being accomplished this way. So it lashed out.  
Suddenly Natalie yelped.  
Snow held her hand tight.  
The beast rattled again. Natalie's knees started to weaken. The fairy had to grab the jar off the table and shoved it into Natalie's arms.  
"Fairies, all of that is inside you?" Natalie trembled her voice quivering.  
Snow's teeth were chattering now and she dropped to the ground as well. The beast roared. When it spoke, it used Snow's voice this time, making it sound cold and sinister. "There is so much more where that came from."  
Snow placed her head against the cold stone pathway of the garden. "Stop it, stop it." She yelled, tears streaming down her face.  
Her father made motions to approach her, but Regina's father held him back. "If you touch her, you'll be part of the connection too."  
The fairy approached Regina who was stone faced and frozen in terror at the scene before her. "I'm not sure that Natalie will hold up." She gestured to the very pale servant girl. "I'm afraid it's going to kill her, despite her strength."  
Regina barely blinked, but her mouth moved. "What will happen if she dies, before this is finished?"  
The fairy grimaced. "I don't know. This is a first, remember?"  
Regina nodded. "Worst case scenario?"  
Novilla gave a deep sigh. "Since I started the spell, it might attach onto me."  
Regina raised an eyebrow. "That's worse case?"  
Novilla frowned. "Have you ever seen a dark fairy? That's what would happen."  
Regina had to admit she had never heard of such a thing.  
Her father however had paled.  
So Regina shared in his worry.

Snow started sobbing. "I'm so sorry."  
Natalie grabbed her hand even tighter. It was turning red from the pressure. She mumbled something that Regina could not hear.  
Suddenly the Blue Fairy arrived. Surveying the scene, she paled. "Novilla! What have you done?"  
The young fairy didn't even bother to defend herself, but rather moved straight to begging for assistance. "What do I do?"  
The Blue Fairy frowned. "Do? Someone is going to suffer the consequences, no matter what I do."  
Snow lifted her head from the stone floor, she looked paler and whiter then Regina had ever seen her. Her hair dull and lifeless, her lips barely visible against her pale, pale skin. "Just kill me. I can't stop it. Please, just stop it!"  
The Blue Fairy seemed to be considering this, so Snow's father stepped in. "She's just a little girl. She doesn't deserve to die."  
The Blue Fairy turned to him. "Little girl or not, she should never have existed." She frowned. "The magic used to make her was reckless at best. The darkness can't be redeemed; the beast can never be concurred. If I had been consulted, then none of this mess would have happened. Snow White, the fairest of them all, will always be cursed, it runs in her blood. "

Something tightened in Regina's chest. Her mother never drank. Her grandfather, she knew had been a drunkard and a lazy bum. Regina had met him once, before he died. He had come to beg for money and her mother had made him grovel and beg. She had told Regina that with enough determination, anyone can become more than their parents, they don't have to succumb to genetics. The apple isn't always cursed to fall under the tree.  
Regina hadn't appreciated this talk when her mother had given it, seeing it as only another excuse for her mother to promote her marrying above her rank and station. But now she saw it as something more. Her mother had actually been afraid of something. Being her father. Being cursed to be the apple that hadn't fallen far from the tree.

"I don't believe that." Regina announced coming out of her thoughts. "No one can be cursed forever. Not if they wish things to be otherwise."  
Snow gave a weak smile.  
Natalie gave a whimper. Snow turned to her. "I don't believe that either." She managed to whisper to Snow.

The Blue Fairy snapped into action. "Stop the flow, Snow. You are the only one who can do so. You must think of drawing back what is inside of your servant, claiming what it is yours. When it's safe, I'm going to remove the servant girl. Maybe, she might survive and most of the dark energy in your veins was captured in this botched mess, so things might be easier for you at least, even if you will be weak. Something good might come out of this."  
Snow nodded weakly and closed her eyes. The light between her hand and Natalie's dimmed and faded away. The Blue Fairy pulled them apart and began to survey the damage.  
Natalie was breathing very shallow and so the Blue Fairy enlisted the help of Snow and Regina's fathers to help carry the very weak Natalie to her room.  
"Novilla, take the jar back with you, you know where it goes. That will be your consequence today."  
The novice fairy paled. "By myself?" Down there?"  
The Blue Fairy gave her a stern look. "Yes." And she left the room.

Novilla sighed and picked up the jar. "Where does it go?" Regina asked curiously.  
"Back into the earth. Where all magic comes from." Novilla replied looking worried. "It's very dark down there, in the broken down mine were all that dark magic that has collected over the years, resides." She began to walk out of the garden. "No fairy likes to go down there. It is like being slowly suffocated."  
Regina reached down to help Snow to her feet. She was shaking and very pale, almost as weak looking as Natalie had looked. "Is Natalie okay?" She weakly asked.  
"It's going to be okay." Regina soothingly assured her, even though she wasn't sure it was going to be. Snow raised her eyes to Regina, but her gaze was apologetic instead of fearful. "I can't…"

But then her eyes flashed dangerously. Before Regina could process this sudden change in demeanor, Snow had crushed her hand in her grip and lunged forward, grabbing Novilla's arm.  
"She should never have taught me how to pull back magic." Snow purred in a voice that sounded unnatural from a little girl. But it wasn't Snow. It was the beast. It was the same darkness that Regina had seen in her mother several times before.

The fairy screamed in pain as bolts of energy flashed between them. The darkness began to flow between the jar and through Novilla back into Snow. The fairy's light began to dim and she dropped the jar. The fairy still wriggling on the ground in torment, the jar began to shatter and no one stopped it. The magic rushed forward and Snow embraced it. Color flowed back into her hair and her lips and her cheeks, and she was hauntingly beautiful once again.  
Regina tried to separate her hand from Snow's, but she gripped it firmer. The beast flashed its eyes mischievously at Regina. "Snow might have believed you, but too bad I don't believe."  
"Believe what?" Regina shuttered.  
"That you will fall very far from your family tree," the beast gave a wicked smile.  
And Regina once again felt the crawling sensation of dark magic. It wasn't being used on her though; it was entering her. It settled into her heart, the hatred she tried so hard to push back everyday, it was welcoming the darkness in. The world started to spin, but not with weakness, but with power. Regina gave Snow a wicked smile back. The beast roared inside of her chest. Regina trembled, but this time in excitement. Only a small part of Regina seemed to still understand the damage being done.  
"I will destroy you, if it's the last thing I do." This small part of Regina fiercely growled at Snow.  
The beast smiled back. "I'd like to see you try."


	30. The strongest magic

Indeed, Temo, indeed. Sad and Disturbing.

The beast as Cora so aptly named the darkness, is very twisted. Luckily something is stronger then darkness and hatred...and so the next chapter.

***  
Snow was sitting at her kitchen table. Emma's iPod, which was the only thing that Snow had missed in her clean sweep of the apartment, was on sitting on the dock still and it was playing angst-filled music. Snow was so lost in the emotions that she was feeling listening to this small, depressing look into her daughter's life that she didn't hear the door knock.  
When she didn't open it, the man just barged in magically.  
"What do you want, Rumplestiltskin?" Snow muttered, looking up.  
"Can't I just have a chat, must I need something from you?" He oily replied.  
Snow met his gaze, hard and harsh. "Yes, and you always get what you want."  
Rumplestiltskin frowned. "And what is it that you think I want?"  
Snow shrugged. "I don't even think you really know."  
Rumplestiltskin blinked and let that uncomfortable truth sit for a moment.  
"But you do?" He combated.  
"What you want or what I want?" Snow raised an eyebrow.  
"Whichever." Rumplestiltskin replied curiously.  
Snow gave a somber smile. "We both want to be white."

Rumplestiltskin pulled something from his pocket. It was a chess piece, a queen to be exact. It was the color of a dull old chalkboard. Grey, but not too dark. Not as dark as it had been. He placed it on the table in front of Snow. "Remember what I told you that night, when you came to me in that little boat."  
Snow nodded. "Love was a disease and you had the cure."  
Rumplestiltskin shook his head. "Not that."  
Snow shrugged. "Then what?"  
"Love is the most painful of afflictions." Rumplestiltskin replied as he played with the chess piece.  
Snow grimaced slightly. "Yes, and no two loves are alike."  
Rumplestiltskin handed Snow the queen. "But that doesn't make love something to be avoiding. Love is the strongest magic there is."  
Snow fingered the chess piece and in doing so caught a glimpse of the bottom. "Snow White." She muttered and raised an eyebrow.

Rumplestiltskin gave her a half smile. "There is more where that came from. I have many investments." He pulled out a rook. It was the color of dirty white sock. He placed that on the table as well. Snow hesitantly picked it up. In its tiny gold script, this piece read David.  
"His birth name, but you already knew that. This rook is one of my most steadfast hearts. A real prince and a shepherd of men."  
Snow gripped the piece tightly and closed her eyes. "What do you want?" Her voice was taunt and tired. "Why did you bring magic back? I was finally free. I was alone, but everyone else was better off."  
Rumplestiltskin shook his head and gave a small chuckle. "Not everyone was. He wasn't. You can't see the future, you can't know what he could have been, like I do."  
Snow looked at the rook again, deep in thought.  
"Here he was a man without purpose and his piece was darker before the magic returned. Many people's were." Rumplestiltskin met Snow eyes trying to convey the deepest seriousness.

"But we remembered our pasts, right before magic arrived. Wouldn't that have been enough?" Snow questioned a tear falling down her face. "I could have been with my daughter, instead of pushing her away. I could have a husband and a grandson."  
"You still do." Rumplestiltskin shook his head sadly. "You still can."  
Snow shook her head. "The beast will hurt them."  
"So could you." Rumplestiltskin countered. Snow looked ready to challenge this, but he cut her off. "And you know very well that those two are not the same thing."  
He stood and made motions to leave. "Anyone can harm a person they love, they don't have to try."  
He placed another piece on the table. This one was a king. It was a pale shade of gray, like light gravel.  
Snow picked it up. In neat script, it read, Henry.  
"It was lighter before he came to talk to you. You should know more then anyone, how a little thing can make a big change. He idolized you and you have all, but given up."  
Snow was silent. Rumplestiltskin turned and began to walk for the door.  
"Did you, before you became the Dark One, did you ever have any children?" Snow asked abruptly.  
Rumplestiltskin stopped, but he didn't turn around. Snow was the second person ever to consider this possibility. The other had been Cora. Rumplestiltskin sighed. "Yes. Losing him was the pain that has kept me any shade of decent all these centuries."  
Snow wrinkled her face in deep thought. "How did he die?"  
Rumplestiltskin turned the doorknob and turned to reply. "Who said he was dead? There are other ways to lose a child."  
With that, he closed the door and left Snow to muse on the chess pieces and her many painful afflictions.


	31. That was all anyone ever needed

I know, Temo, but both of them have to get themselves together, before anything like that could happen successfully. Don't worry though. :)

***  
Emma laid on the cot in the jail cell. It was so small, but she had insisted that Henry sleep on it with her. He was sleeping finally, but it was not a peaceful sleep. He had refused to talk about the last two days living so close to Cora. Emma hadn't pushed him since he seemed frailer than she had ever remembered him. And taller. How much he had grown recently. She stroked his hair and snuggled up to him. "Things are going to get better, you'll see. Life isn't fair, but the two of us, we can try to make it more so. You are the bravest person I have ever met. I know I can't take any credit for it, some people are just born with bigger hearts."  
Henry had a small smile on his face as though he had heard her, but Emma knew he hadn't, right? He was asleep.  
But James had. He was sitting in the chair at the sheriff's desk, watching over them like a father and a shepherd. When Emma had finally fallen asleep as well, he pulled out his sword from the closet. He began to polish it and sharpen it. He hated violence as a kid, but he knew he would do what was needed to protect his family.

August came in, two hours later. "Get some sleep. It is 3am. We might have a big day tomorrow. The whispers have gotten worse. Unrest is a high point."

James refused to move from his spot. "And leave them in your capable hands." He gestured towards Emma and Henry. His words could have been a compliment, but his tone implied insult. He was feeling the weight of the impending storm and without Snow, he began to wonder if Abigail had been right.  
August closed his eyes. "I stand beside you, James. But I don't have to. I deserted your daughter, yes, we have established this. But I was seven." August opened his eyes and met James's hard gaze. "But some things change. I don't really remember much about you, but that you were kind and brave."  
August closed his arms across his chest. "I guess that can change too."  
He turned and started to walk out.  
James closed his eyes. He couldn't afford to make enemies, what with Storybrooke being full of them as it was. Perhaps he had been a bit harsh. He had been a child. And he had come back as an adult. That meant more.

He thought of something to bridge the gap between them, even though August was physically older, James felt so much older and he acted as such. Most of the time.  
"My name isn't James."

August stopped and turned around, intrigued.  
James sighed. "That was my twin brother's name. My identical twin brother. I don't even remember having a brother. He was traded to Rumplestiltskin a week after we were born. He was raised to be the prince, not me. I took his place only as a man. I'm just a shepherd." He hung his head. "Only one person knows this about me. Outside of those who made the deal in the first place in my kingdom. That person is my wife, the only woman I have ever loved, the only person that can cause me such grief and pain and still hold me joyously captive."  
August gave a brief smile. "I can understand that." Emma was a hand-full and yet he was still here, totally stuck, wanting to lead her and follow her at the same time. He unfolded his arms. "Not being born a prince doesn't make you any less one."  
James smiled back. "I suppose that would be just like not being born a real boy."  
A sort of peace and harmony settled between them.

James gazed over at Emma and Henry sleeping in the cell and the sadness returned again. "I don't know if I can do it."  
August frowned. "Do what?"  
"What Rumplestiltskin expects me to do. It is very risky and it might not even work." James sat back down.  
August nodded. "What will happen if your task fails?"  
James swallowed. "I will die. Either painfully or I will fade away slowly, alive and never knowing it. A shell of a man and nothing more." His chin quivered slightly thinking about the possible future. "There will be no one to ensure my family is safe."  
August put his hands in his pockets. "No one is ever safe. I can't promise that I will keep them safe for you. But I can assure you that I will make sure that they are loved."  
James met August's eyes and searched them. "You love my daughter." It wasn't a question; it was a confirmation.  
August nodded. "With every beat of my wooden heart. Whatever that is worth."

James shook his head. "That will be enough." That was all anyone ever needed. He picked up his sword and handed it to August.  
"Where are you going?" August asked.  
James weakly smiled, "To get some sleep, tomorrow is going to be big. I can feel it too. I'm going to need my rest."  
August accepted the sword and bowed.  
James turned and walked towards the door.  
"What is your real name, James?" August asked.  
James turned and smiled. "David."  
August blinked and then softly laughed. "Nolan?"  
David shook his head no.

"Goodnight, Pinocchio."  
"Goodnight, David."


	32. Worse things then Death

Nope, you didn't miss anything Temo, I think that because James turned out to be his brother's name that he assumed when he continued to pretend to be him for King George's sake, that many writers are just making Prince Charming's real name David. Which makes sense as a shepherd boy's name and because it is his Storybrooke name.

Yay! new reviewers. Glad you liked it.

***  
Belle couldn't sleep. It was 3am and she still was staring at the red glow of the digital clock in her room. She had already gotten rid of the ticking clock last week, because she claimed it was keeping her awake. But she was beginning to think that something else was wrong. She sprung out of the bed and into the small kitchen. As she was filling a glass of water, her gaze fell on the chessboard in the dining room. A few pieces were missing.  
She approached it, glass in hand. A queen, a rook, and a king appeared to be missing.  
But something else caught her attention. In the center of the board, words were carved, which she hadn't seen before. The missing pieces must have been covering them. They were small, but they were the same gold lettering as on the pieces.  
A horrible thought occurred to Belle. Rumplestiltskin, never did anything halfway. A curse of this magnitude, that transported hundreds of people from a different time and place, to a new world, with new lives and new names, had to have a linchpin.  
Rumplestiltskin was inside this world, because he needed to redeem himself and fix the mistakes he had made over the years. That's what he had said. He couldn't face his son, with a broken world on his conscience.  
But Belle had always thought he was taking on a task too big, too insurmountable. And now, she was certain that Rumplestiltskin had thought the same thing, at least he had accounted for it.  
At that moment, Rumplestiltskin entered the room. He took off his coat, hanging it on the rack by the door. He blinked seeing Belle up, but relaxed when he saw the glass of water. However, his relaxation didn't last long.  
Belle spoke, almost interrogating him. "Where are the missing pieces?"  
"Someone needed to see them." Rumplestiltskin calming replied.  
Belle pointed to the board. "What is the real purpose of this curse?" She frowned. "It can't be just to fix the mistakes you made. You could have tried to fix them back in our world. Why are we here?"  
Rumplestiltskin sighed. "It was easier to work on a playing field I controlled."  
That was the wrong thing to say. "You control everything. Everything is a game to you. Not the kind that are fun and lighthearted. No, the kind of game, like chess. Where players are manipulated from above, sacrificed for the ultimate win."  
She picked up her knight from the board. "Even I am a piece in your stupid game. I deserve to know what I am playing towards." She gestured towards the board and pointed to the center. "But more importantly, Emma needs to know."

Rumplestiltskin came into the kitchen and sat down at the table. "That storybook that Henry keeps carrying around calls her the savior. I don't like the word savior. I prefer destroyer of all evil. But I suppose a savior implies the same tragic end. At least in some manner."  
Belle twisted her face in thought. "Who wrote that book?"  
"Someone who really needed a savior." Rumplestiltskin evasively answered.  
"You?" Belle raised an eyebrow.  
"Not me."  
"Snow White?" Belle guessed.  
Rumplestiltskin shook his head. "She is perfectly capable of saving herself."  
"Regina?"  
"She had no idea the book existed until she caught Henry reading it." Rumplestiltskin shook his head. "It doesn't really matter how I got the book here."

Belle frowned. "If you aren't going to tell me, then what are we fighting?"  
Rumplestiltskin gave a deep sigh. He tenderly took every piece off of the board. Emma's name was now clearly visible on the surface. Then he flipped the board over. Carved into the bottom surface on a black as night surface, in red lettering, were the words, The Beast.

"It goes by so many names and numerous faces, not having its own. I thought Cora's name for it was fitting."  
"Why?" Belle asked. "What is it?"  
Rumplestiltskin gave a grim. "It is the darkness in men's hearts. Add magic and the darkness has the power to destroy physically as well as spiritually. Over time the cumulative darkness formed a consciousness of its own. This made it more powerful, since it can think and manipulate those who have an opening in their hearts. But it also makes it easier to destroy."  
Belle's thoughts were swirling. "How would this help?"  
Rumplestiltskin gave a somber smile. "Because every Beast has a Beauty, somewhere out there. Once something can be loved, it can be saved..." He paused aware how much what he was about to say was so true about himself as well. "or it can be destroyed."

Belle didn't think it was possible before that moment, to hate something so passionately and simultaneously to love it just as strong. To see all of its failings and its successes and to welcome them both. Belle knew there was only one person on the earth who could destroy Rumplestiltskin. Not literal death, that was clear, but only one person could kill the man he had become and that was her. She shuddered. She ran her fingers over the board, tracing Emma's name.  
"Emma is going to have to die, isn't she?" Belle asked bitterly.  
Rumplestiltskin gave a somber nod. "Mostly likely. I designed the curse that way, just in case."  
Bella sighed. "You waited 28 years to leave here to find your son. He's here, I know he is. That's why you picked this specific land. You waited because you needed Emma to be old enough to be able to take on the Beast." Belle frowned. "Do you think that it will work? Your plan?"  
Rumplestiltskin shook his head sadly. "At this point, things are looking bleak."  
"So, instead of coming up with another plan, you are going to just sit back and let it happen? You are going to let her die?" Belle was angry. He couldn't be giving up.  
Rumplestiltskin shook his head. "No, if it comes to it, I am going to ask her to die." He stood and opened a small lockbox inside the game board. Inside was the knife. The crooked knife with his name carved into it. "There are worse things than death."

***  
The next morning was damp and cold. It was finally summer, but it felt like early spring in Maine, no snow, but still cold and wet, the kind that seeps into your bones.  
Cora was already up before the sun. It was an old habit, plus she liked the cold, the way it motivated her and cleared her head.  
She was going to make her move today, her pieces were all assembled and now, on a day that usually zapped other's energy, she would have the advantage.  
So it was quite a surprise to her when she came down the stairs and found Regina drinking a cup of coffee. Her daughter was never a morning person, not when she was a kid. Unless she was going riding. Then she could be up and out the door at the crack of dawn.  
So Cora was a tad worried to see Regina up and about before her. That meant something big, it meant she had something invested in the upcoming motions. Something that she didn't need to follow Cora's lead for. Cora for a moment wished that she could have just bought two people's allegiance. An unstable daughter with dark magic, made a bad ally and a worse enemy. But one couldn't buy the Beast.  
"Good Morning." Cora greeted Regina pleasantly.  
Regina gave a curt nod and continued to drink her coffee.  
Cora poured herself a cup of coffee as well. As she sat down beside her daughter, she had a brief tinge of regret. They looked related sure, but for a moment, it felt more like a mirror. She hated mirrors. That was Regina's thing.  
The Beast was incredible quiet for the moment, most likely enjoying the knowledge that it was going to be utilized to an extreme later. So when Cora opened her mouth, she knew she could speak freely.  
"This isn't what I wanted, you know." Cora announced. "Dark magic is dangerous. A life without love is lonely, but a life with darkness is fatal." Cora took another sip of her coffee. "I gave up so much to ensure that you would be cared for, that you would never be desperate enough to take my path in life."  
Regina growled. "Not one more word from you about how much you have sacrificed for me. If you had really cared about me you should have let me leave. Your job isn't to make sure I'm comfortable, your job was to make sure I was loved." Regina stood up and made motions to leave the kitchen.  
Cora frowned. "I'm not talking about wealth or marriage."  
Regina paused curious. "Then what?"  
Cora sighed and placed her mug down. "I meant the magic."  
Regina furrowed her brow. "What about magic?"  
Cora looked up and met her gaze. " My first born son was powerful, full of magic, but his heart was weak, and just as Rumplestiltskin predicted, and he died as an infant."  
Regina placed her mug down too, captivated with this new vision of her mother's past. She very rarely talked about it. Most of what Regina knew she had discovered from other people. She felt trapped like a caged animal, torn between continuing to listen and perhaps making her life more miserable, and leaving and always wondering what had caused her mother to go so wrong. Knowing that not knowing could be the destruction of herself later. Maybe it already had.

Cora continued, seeing that she had her daughter's attention. "When my first husband, King George, discovered my second son had died as well, he sought to accuse me of sabotaging the kingdom, destroying heirs. He claimed I was unfit as a wife and he sought to kill me. I made a deal with Rumplestiltskin again, that he would replace my dead son with another baby, and then the kingdom would never know. They would have an heir and I would be spared."

Regina frowned. Her mother had once been a queen. But her life had been miserable, so why had she pushed so hard to get Regina in a similar role? "The rouse was never discovered?" Regina questioned.

"Oh, most of the court knew about it. It was just kept secret from the people of the realm. King George was a hated ruler and any sign of weakness and they might have had a coup." Cora remarked casually, as though this was uneventful. "King George still despised me, now that I had shown some sort of backbone and cleverness. He quietly told the kingdom that I had died in childbirth when his third son died of the same heart condition. He was going to kill me, but..."  
Here Cora had a pause and for a moment it seemed as if she was sad. But she quickly recovered. "Your father, a Duke in his family tree, bargained for my life, claimed that he wished to take me as a wife and he would leave for his estate in the country, so we wouldn't cause the King anymore suffering. I did marry him, but I didn't love your father either. But the beast never forgot what he did for me. So it never did harm him." Cora took a sip of her coffee again, this time it seemed a distraction from the topic.

Things were starting to make sense for Regina. She was stunned, but not surprised that her mother had been through hell and back before she was born. That her obsessive desire to control her life might have stemmed from the fact that she had lost three other children.

Awkwardly, she began to ask what she had always wanted to know, but had been too afraid to ask. "You weren't born with magic, were you?"  
Cora looked back up from her mug. She closed her eyes briefly before responding. "No."  
Regina felt the beast stir in her chest. She closed her eyes. "Ask her where it came from." It whispered.  
Regina knew that with all her being she did not want to know the answer to this question. But she felt herself asking the question anyway.  
Cora blinked and for a second Regina wondered if she was going to lie. But Cora sighed and Regina knew she was getting the painful truth.  
"You."  
Regina closed her eyes. She knew she should have just stayed in bed.

"Rumplestiltskin came and warned me that my child, my beautiful, perfectly healthy, little girl, was going to curse the whole world. Your magic was so powerful; I could feel it when I held you. Love makes you do incredibly weak and stupid things; I wanted to ensure that you would never know of it. That you would be steady, yet distant. But I also needed you to be safe from this future, so I took your magic from you."

Regina could feel her moment of compassion for her mother fading, her mother destroying it the more she spoke. "What would you know of love? Taking my magic from me wasn't love, it was fear." Regina lashed out. "You didn't want to be the one who created a monster, that's all. And taking Daniel's life, did not destroy my love for him, just any love that I ever had for you."

Regina was pissed. Here her mother sat calmly and acted like she was the good guy in all of this, saving the world from her daughter, sacrificing things to ensure that she was all alone and weak. Sticking her in a place, like a palace, where Cora felt that she would be the most suffocated and confined. Like she had been.

"What do I know of love?" Cora gave a harsh and cold laugh. "Just ask Snow White. She has all of her memories back now." Cora stood up and placed her mug in the sink. "Maybe you can try to save her again and she will love you for it." Her mother's words were suddenly bitter and full of raw emotion, one Regina couldn't capture. She was so confused. "I hate her, she has done nothing but ruin my life. Why would I help her?"  
Cora started to walk out of the room, but she turned her head to respond. "Why did you help her then?"  
Regina furrowed her brow. "She was just a little girl on a horse. It was the right thing to do. I didn't know how much trouble she would be."  
Cora gave a sad smile. "No, not the unknown little girl on a horse. Why did you help Snow White? Why after how much you hated her, after what she did to you, why did you help HER?"

Regina frowned. All the memories that had returned this past week, yes, she too had had things she had apparently forgotten, a fact, which worried her, swirled in her head. Why had she agreed to help her? She knew why she hated her; she knew why she swore to destroy her and her happiness. But why had she erased her memories in the first place? Why had she given her a second chance? She heard her voice stating why, but the memories seemed like they belonged to another person instead of another time.

"I don't know." Regina answered timidly. She felt lost and small for the first time in a long time.  
"I do." Another voice answered. Regina and Cora turned their heads to see Jefferson standing in their kitchen, black smoke dissipating. He picked up his hat.  
"Jefferson, watch yourself. You know better then to pop into a conversation." Cora tersely warned.  
He hung his head and muttered a string of apologies, which were obviously forced. He bowed. "Are we ready?" He spoke with somber calm.  
Cora nodded. "Let's get moving."  
Jefferson bowed again. Cora walked first and Regina followed behind her. She made a glance at Jefferson, silently asking him with her eyes what he had meant.  
"Not now." Jefferson mouthed.


	33. What you want me to be

Temo: Sorry, but you are going to have to figure that one out on your own, Regina.

Thanks again, everybody. This story was supposed to be practice, maybe 20 chapters at best, when I first started writing...well it sort of took on a life of its own. It begs to be written, building to a larger climax then I had originally planned. Thank you for continuing to follow this really long story! Because it isn't ending any time soon. :)

***  
Emma awoke with a start. Henry was not in her arms. She frantically jumped up and grabbed her coat. August was sitting at the desk, his legs propped up on the desk.  
"Henry is fine. He is outside with Grace and Grumpy is keeping an eye on them." August assured her. Emma barely relaxed. "You know I think he has a crush on her, which would be cuter to exploit, if times were less tense and things were much simpler." August cracked a smile, hoping to get one back from Emma.  
Emma was not in the mood for cute. She could feel dread, intense dread, like when just one week before, she had been in a room with a dragon.  
"August?" She asked.  
"Hmm?"  
"Where is my father?" Emma asked tensely.  
"Getting some well needed rest in my room at the bed and breakfast. I don't think he has had a decent sleep in a week."  
"Nobody has." Emma muttered.  
"Except maybe Cora." A voice remarked. Emma turned around. A puff of smoke was clearing and Jefferson stood next to his hat in Emma's bed/cell. "So I'd be on my guard. I'm headed there next, to call the troops together."  
Emma growled. "Traitor."  
"Nope, I'm on my own team. My family always has been. My father's...talents were used by dark and light magic alike." Jefferson gave a somber smile. "And we have always been well cared for. Protected. I tried to make a life without it and my daughter was always poor and sometimes even hungry. So I did what I had to, to protect her."  
August took his feet off the desk. "No wonder your daughter is pretty angry with you. She doesn't want to be protected, she wants to help you protect." His statement was about Grace, but it was clear from his tone, that the conversation was about August as well.  
Jefferson frowned, but didn't respond.  
"How'd that work out for you?" Emma sneered.  
Jefferson pretended that he hadn't heard this. He turned to Emma. "If you want to know the root of the problem, you need to talk to the Blue Fairy. Ask to see the mirror. She'll know which one, the one she made. And you will have to have your mother with you."  
Emma frowned. "Why should I listen to you?"  
Jefferson shrugged. "It's a mad, mad world here. You deserve to know why, if you intend to fix it. I don't think you can, but you deserve a chance. The person who knows the answers you seek is Maggie."  
With that Jefferson spun his hat. Emma could see in the smoke the kitchen in Regina's house. "No, not the unknown little girl on a horse. Why did you help Snow White? Why after how much you hated her, after what she did to you, why did you help HER?" Emma could hear Cora's voice ask from inside the scene in the hat.  
As far as Emma knew, Regina had never helped Snow White. She always had been trying to make her life miserable, some sort of twisted vengeance for a childhood wrong according to Snow herself.  
Emma had this sudden realization that she didn't know a lot of things about Regina or Cora for that matter. Jefferson wouldn't send Emma to the Blue Fairy if he was on their side would he? Was he?  
Regina's "I don't know," seem to echo in Emma's head. Even Regina didn't know?  
By the time Emma rose from her thoughts, Jefferson had disappeared into the hat. The portal created by the hat, had a hand reach through and grab the hat, pulling it inside the portal and then both the Mad Hatter and the hat were gone.  
Emma turned to August. He shrugged, but seemed pleased that she was looking to him for advice. "I'm just the deputy. What do you think?"  
Emma didn't even respond. She marched outside. Who did she know that she could trust?  
Sitting on the hood of her cop car, which made Emma smile, since she never, ever, dreamed she would be a cop, was Henry and Grace. Propped up against the outside of the building was Grumpy. The two kids were laughing about something, so she felt her spirits lift a bit.  
"Grumpy. What do you think of the Blue Fairy?" She whispered.  
He grimaced. "In general or personally?"  
Emma frowned. "Whichever is more helpful to me."  
Grumpy gave a laugh. "You sound like Snow." He saw Emma's face and added. "Which is a good thing. There is no one admire or care more about then your mother. Except maybe Nova."  
Emma smiled at the praise, but then raised an eyebrow. "The fairy?"  
Grumpy nodded grimly, "The woman I can never have."  
"Surely, you have as good a chance as anyone else." Emma replied compassionately.  
"It's not that simple. I can't be with her. She can't leave the fairies." Grumpy muttered. "The Blue Fairy made sure to grind that into my brain."  
"Do Fairies operate like nuns then? Joining is a life commitment?" Emma questioned.  
"Only the Blue Fairy or Fairies work like that. Right now there is just one. The rest that are here are novices. But Nova can't leave. Not like many of the others could. Without magic, she would die."  
"Then how was she alive all these years, before magic came back?" Emma frowned in confusion.  
Grumpy was about to respond, but he suddenly appeared confused also. "I don't know."  
"Seems there is a lot of half baked truths and omissions coming from the Blue Fairy. "A voice added.  
Emma turned at her father's voice. He looked like he had gotten some well needed rest, but his eyes were cloudy, like he was still lost in thought.  
He looked ready to say something else, but Red came running down the street.  
She was breathing heavy and almost collided with James. She bent over and panted. When she recovered, she spoke in gasps. "The fairies...Cora..."  
Grumpy was the first to probe her. "What did she do?"  
Red stood up, still heavily breathing. "She attacked them."  
"Full on?" James asked in disbelief. "By herself?"  
Emma shook her head. "Not by herself."  
August emerged from the office hearing the commotion. "Jefferson just paid us a quick visit not but 20 minutes ago. I suspect that she has every incarcerated criminal with her. The asylum yesterday was empty."  
Henry and Grace barged into the conversation. "So what happened? Who won?" Henry asked worry in his voice.  
Red frowned, and closed her eyes. "It was over quite quickly. The fairies were split up quickly. The individual novices weren't strong enough to resist her on their own. Their options were join or die."  
Grumpy became pale. "How many died?"  
Red closed her eyes a tear escaping. "I lost count. A few joined and a few seemed to scatter when the fight began, but most of them chose death."  
Grumpy paled and James rubbed his forehead massaging it.  
Emma looked at Henry. He was pale and panicked looking.  
Grace took his hand however. "Then they have helped us. They were honorable to the end."  
Emma furrowed her eyebrows. "How has this helped us?"  
Grace began squaring her shoulders. "They raised me for two years before the curse, when my father went missing. Every novice is taught two things when they first become a fairy. One, that their magic is collective. The fewer fairies there are, the stronger they each become. The more fairies, the weaker each individual is."  
James nodded. "But fairies generally operate as a group, which is why it still works well either way."  
Grace nodded and squeezed Henry's hand. "The second is, that in death, their magic goes back to the overall collective."  
Emma frowned. "Okay, so what does that mean?"  
Grace smiled a somber, way too old for a little girl smile. But Emma supposed she had lived an extra 28 years as a little girl.  
"They just made you, a hell of a lot stronger. You are one of the few fledgling magic bearers, outside of the fairies. You haven't chosen to side with dark magic, so you are open to receive their magic. They all just entrusted you with the future."  
Henry beamed, but Emma paled. "What?"  
Grace took a deep breath. "I don't know if Cora knows this, but I know my father does." She smiled, pleased with her father. "Try something, if you don't believe me. It should be loads easier than before."  
Emma frowned. Like what? What sort of things did good magic entail? Emma mused at all the things that wished that she could do as a child. Most of them involved making various tormentors pay, so she skipped over those thoughts. She looked at August, who was still wearing the jacket with the burn mark. Healing wounds was good magic, right?  
"Take off your jacket." She demanded.  
August blinked, obviously thinking something dirty, for a brief second, before shaking it away. He peeled off the jacket. The small burn mark on his arm was still visible. Emma tentatively touched it. She closed her eyes and tried to envision undoing the damage, soothing it. Magic sparked instantly from her and she felt August shudder beneath her fingertips. She watched the wound heal up before her eyes.  
She smiled. She felt incredible. She could fix things; maybe you could undo dark magic after all. She continued to touch August's arm, but she closed her eyes. In her mind, she could sense the magic around his wooden leg. She thought about healing the leg, undoing the damage. Magic crackled.  
August yelped and she opened her eyes quickly.  
"What the hell are you doing?" He shouted.  
Emma was about to make a snarky comment about not appreciating her help, no pain no gain sort of deal, but she stopped herself. She let go of August's arm and he began to sink. James managed to catch him and helped him right himself.  
August pulled up his pant leg. His wooden leg had only been below the knee before when he had showed it last, and now it extended up his thigh.  
"Why are you trying to turn me back into wood?" August asked sharply, with pain in his eyes, physical and emotional.  
Emma closed her eyes. She leaned up against the sheriff car and slid until she was sitting on the ground. "I wasn't. I was trying to fix it."  
A horrible thought occurred to her. "Cora knows exactly what she is doing. If she is like Regina, then she is three steps ahead of us. She knew the fairies would rather die, they see me as the savior." Emma put her hands over the sides of her head and slid them over her mouth.

She was starting to see why Cora was such a formidable opponent. She wasn't afraid to take risks. She was sure that Emma would use these new powers and either she was would be inexperienced and mess everything up or she would be corrupted by the vast power and join her side. Isn't that what happens in fantasy novels? Weren't all great villains power hungry and manipulative? Didn't they all have miserable childhoods, were never loved or something? Emma knew she had thousands of weak, manipulatable spots. She could try and block them all, but then she might as well be made of wood too.  
Emma voiced her deepest fear out loud. "And Cora is banking on my anger and my broken past to join with this new magic and my inexperience and she is hoping I'll just self-destruct. That I'll become her, even."

There was silence as the reality of how true this could be settled in on everyone.  
Henry hugged her. "It can't be that bad. You are strong. You'll see."  
Emma shook her head. "Oh, kiddo. I've been trying to protect you all this time, but really I need so much more protection. This woman you see, your mother, your savior, you made all that up. I wasn't even close to this kind of person before you. What you want me to be, I've tried so hard to become that. When I was your age, I never dreamed I'd be sheriff anywhere. I thought I was going to be a criminal. What I am kidding, I was a criminal."  
Emma began to sob.  
James sat down next to her against the car. Emma leaned against him, without thinking. She didn't vocalize that the past two nights, she dreamed that she was in an asylum, where nobody believed that she had to go back to Maine and save her kid from the Evil Queen from Snow White. She didn't say that both mornings, she woke and wondered if that wasn't really reality, that she had just gone nuts after all those years alone and isolated, that she wasn't in some asylum in Boston, making all this up, right now.  
"I've got all kinds of problems, Henry."  
Henry smiled and gestured to the group around them, "And we're going to fix them."  
And Emma wanted to desperately to believe that.


	34. Without having lived

***  
Weeks passed and there was little to no sign that Snow was ever returning, that the beast that had dared Regina was ever going away. Teen Snow was sullen and moody in front of most of the court and so many of them passed it off as teenage angst. However, in front of Regina, the beast would curve Snow's face into a sinister grin. Like they had a secret, which they did, but only the beast was pleased.  
Every time Regina saw it smile, she plotted ways to destroy it. She knew she couldn't kill Snow outright or harm her willingly, but there had to be a loophole.

When Snow refused to go to the summer palace that year, Regina stayed behind. She smiled and said Snow just needed some alone time and that she would stay behind and try to convince her to come. King Leopold allowed this, though his sorrow was visible. Regina had played up the mother card again and he had relaxed. But Regina had plotted to have her killed. She had everything planned perfectly and it would look like a terrible accident. Snow would have to die to be released from the beast, but sometimes, great sacrifices had to be made. Snow had tried to die before, so she didn't feel that Snow would be too angry with her.

She didn't expect that before darkness had fallen, Snow would take the opportunity to jump out of a window into the stone courtyard.  
No one saw her but Regina, but now she couldn't do it. She couldn't kill her.  
The beast would never jump, but Snow would. Which meant she was still in there. And fighting.  
Regina ran to the stone floor and held Snow's head in her lap. She watched as the wounds healed themselves and her broken neck shift back into place. She once again looked perfect, only her clothes and the pavement showing signs that anything had happened. Snow opened her eyes, seeing that she was alive and Regina was holding her, she swore.

"It wears down the beast to have to fix everything with magic." That was the first thing she said. "Maybe it will stay quiet for a while now. Maybe it won't keep trying to get me to do magic."  
Regina blinked stunned. "You can't keep jumping off of walls and the like."  
Snow sighed. "I know."  
She looked defeated. The most beautiful young girl and she was trying to leave the world. Without having lived.  
Regina grabbed her hand. "I swear that one day, you will be free. Even if I have to rip out your heart and squeeze it. Even if you have to die."  
Snow smiled broadly. "Thank you." She reached for Regina's hair, which was long and coming out of her hairclip and this time Regina didn't flinch. "Thank you for loving me, despite everything."  
Something in Regina snapped. The thing she would later start calling the beast as well, growled. She didn't love Snow, she wanted her dead. She placed her hand on Snow's forehead. As she brushed against it, Snow shuttered.  
When she opened her eyes. "What happened?"  
"You tripped. You'll be fine." Regina sighed.  
"Why did they leave for the summer palace without me?" Snow asked looking around confused.  
"So, you have changed your mind, your father will be pleased to hear your mood has improved." Regina replied, the sick fake kindness already wearing on her. Snow had forgotten, forgotten about magic, about Cora's departure, about Regina's new magic and Daniel's death, and most of all, the beast. Her life was now less complicated and apparently cheery. She could endure this cheeriness. And it would prevent any more jumps, which would be difficult to explain and even worse to console.  
"Let's get changed into something with a little less blood on it and get your horse out." Regina advised.  
Snow stood brushing herself off. "Thanks for staying behind with me."  
Regina internally grimaced, but externally smiled. She could endure this. And one day Snow White would die and she would finally be free. But not today. Not now.  
***


	35. What everyone deserves

***  
Snow White, or rather a black cat that was really Snow White, approached Regina who was sitting outside the nunnery, which Cora now occupied and held captive. The Blue Fairy had been captured and was being subjected to torture by various nefarious types that Cora had joined forces with. Most of the novices were dead or missing. The cat had seen it all.  
Red had been talking with a fairy when they had arrived and she had escaped, but the cat knew that she had only been let to leave so that she could spread the word about the attack. Implant fear and what not.  
"I know it's you." Regina muttered seeing the cat. The cat hopped up onto the bench she was sitting on. "I thought you were in abject fear about using your magic, last I heard. Boarding yourself up in your apartment, scaring everyone away."  
The cat looked around, searching for watchers. Not seeing any, she shifted. Snow White dressed in a dark purple dinner dress and black pumps, a ruby necklace with long elegant earrings with rubies dangling around her neck, way sat beside Regina. It was way too early for that sort of attire, Regina muttered internally, but Snow seemed to bask in the statement she was making.  
"Moping around didn't help last time and it didn't help this time." Snow responded. "I've decided that embracing my misery is going to be less messy and maybe even help you."  
Regina frowned. This was the second conversation today about Snow and Regina helping each other. She should have had a second cup of coffee. "How would this help me?"  
Snow played with the necklace, and then she met Regina's eyes. "I am offering to take it back. The magic I gave you."  
Regina blinked then became angry. "You are giving up."  
Snow frowned. "No, I'm accepting destiny. The future is already written. I have been screwed since the moment I was born. I am offering you a way out. Someone has to take care of the people I love. I wouldn't trust anyone, but you."  
The way Snow had calmly used the word love, rubbed Regina the wrong way. "Bullshit."  
Snow frowned at Regina's choice of words.  
Regina growled. "You aren't Snow. Snow would never give up. Snow would never trust me with anything. And she certainly wouldn't want more dark magic. You are the beast."  
Snow shook her head. "There is no difference. The beast and I are one."  
Regina grabbed Snow's shoulders. "Like hell you are. Be gone."  
Snow stood abruptly. Her irises were darker and the beast spoke freely now. "So are you and I, Regina. Snow belongs to you and you belong to me. You have from the start. It may have been your mother's spell, but it was your magic."

This was the last bit of proof that Regina needed. She was angry that she was right; she didn't want to be right. She had spent most of her life as if the two things that had hurt her most were the same. She wanted to be able to hate Snow White in peace. But Snow White didn't know about Cora's magic being originally Regina's. Regina had only just this morning heard it from Cora. But the beast would know, which meant Snow and the beast were separate.

Which meant that the beast and Regina were separate. From the start. Regina smiled.  
"What is so funny?" Snow sneered or rather the beast. "You have rejected my proposal to be free and you will never receive such an offer again."

"I have seen your heart, Snow White." Regina grinned wickedly. "I have never held it in my hand, like I had once dreamed of doing, once thought that I had. But I have seen it. Small and fragile in a mirror. All this trouble for something so small." Regina laughed, but it was a bitter laugh. A wounded laugh.

The beast growled. "If you think this is about Snow White's heart, then you are mistaken. It is so weak, so as to be useless. If you were to rip out her mother's heart, then it would wither and die against my strength."

Regina paused in her laughter. She heard in the beast's voice, something that sounded like her mother. In fact, something her mother had said that very morning. About Snow White being the one to ask about love. "Margaret White's heart." She muttered. The beast had stated that they were separate from each other. Snow's mother's heart and Snow's heart were just now treated as separate entities.

Though Snow could not have heard Regina's thoughts, the beast could, since it was something that Snow and her shared. "It matters not that you know. I will win either way," the beast murmured, this time inside of Regina.  
"I don't believe that." Regina smiled. "Not anymore."

Snow was silent for a moment. For a brief second she met Regina's eyes and Regina did not see the beast, she saw Snow. She saw Mary Margaret. She saw Maggie, the woman whose portrait hung in the library. And for a second she saw Emma. But that was just because they were related, Regina was sure. And for the first time Regina reflected on the woman in the painting and the woman in the mirror and just how similar Maggie and Emma looked. And it wasn't just the long blond hair. It was the look of long suffering and perseverance.

But Snow was gone as quickly as she came. A cat jumped off of the bench and ran into the grass. And for the first time in Regina's memory, all 33 plus 28 years of them, she felt like there was a ray of sunshine on the future. She held this feeling tight, knowing that her mother's voice any moment now was going to break the spell and the darkness would return. She pulled out her cell phone and texted Henry.  
_Aladdin. _  
Henry texted back a smile. :)  
Regina tried to think of a clever way to say what she had just learned. She didn't really text often and she certainly never had code words before.  
_The heart of the matter is in the library. Look for the painting._  
_K. r u OK? _  
Regina frowned, she sounded out the letters and it seemed to make more sense.  
She texted back.  
_I just might be. _  
And that was the truth.

Unfortunately, Henry didn't get to go into the library before all hell broke loose. Once Emma had recovered slightly, she was bound and determined to get Snow White out of her apartment. The small crowd of them followed her, mostly out of worry for what might happen.  
"Open up Snow." Emma knocked on the door. "You can't hide in there forever."  
The door opened, but no one was at the door. Emma cautiously stepped inside the only place she'd ever called home. "Snow?"  
No answer.  
James stepped inside too.  
"Mom?" Emma squeaked.  
A black cat slid between her legs from the stairs and into the apartment. The cat hopped on kitchen stool. Before the group's eyes, the cat became Snow. Dressed as she was with Regina moments before, she looked intimidating at best. She looked wicked at worst.  
James gave a soft moan. "Snow. Why?"  
The woman that looked like Snow responded with a sneer. "It was bound to win, eventually. Regina warned you and you didn't listen. And look, more than one lifetime of grief. "  
James pressed forward and grabbed Snow's arm.  
Nothing changed.  
"It's a little past hope for that." The woman smiled sinisterly. "Your magic is pitiful. All you have is your love."  
Emma, however was not to be deterred from attempting to do the same. Hadn't she just got a horribly depressing power boost? The moment she grabbed Snow's other arm a huge shock passed between them. Emma's whole body hurt and Snow flinched as though she had felt it too. For a second, Emma saw her, Mary Margaret, Snow, her mother. The woman who trusted a stranger, who invited her into her life and her home.  
The pain was increasing and Emma was forced to let go. Snow seemed to recover and the sneer returned. "So we seem to have taken different sides, for now." This last phrase was sharp and cold.  
However, something happened. Snow grabbed her arm this time. The pain returned, but something accompanied it. Images flashed before her eyes, sounds were heard in her head. Two women were holding hands, but it wasn't Snow and Emma, it was Snow and Regina. Much younger Snow and Regina. Snow, or rather the angry teen who looked like Snow, was passing a dark mist from her hand into Regina's. Emma heard Regina's angry promise to destroy her. Then she saw Regina hold a sobbing Snow, who had unsuccessfully tried to jump from a castle wall. Regina had done something and Snow seemed cheerful. Emma realized that Snow had forgotten whatever had tormented her so. Then there were snippets of Snow in the garden, Snow hugging her father. Snow playing cards with Regina's father. Happily ignorant. But Regina never recovered. Regina always remembered.

It was like she could hear Mary Margaret's voice saying this. This was not a memory. This was Snow. Right now. "Regina always remembered. Regina never forgave. My happiness after everything I had done, none of which I remembered, it slowly destroyed her. The beast, takes everything."  
This was all Emma got to hear, before the connection was broken. Emma's hand was ripped from Snow's. When Emma came to, her vision blurry and everything hurting, she saw that Grumpy had ripped them apart. Emma was on the ground, which she didn't remember falling onto.  
"Ugh." Was all Emma managed. She peered around. Red and James were holding Snow, who looked weak. Henry was holding a wet cloth and August took it and wiped Emma's face.  
Emma gave a weak smile, while she tried process what had just happened. Snow, her mother, had just shared something very important. Regina was the Evil Queen, sure, but now Emma had understood how she got there.  
Emma tried to sit up. "I understand." She faced Snow, waving off the people who were trying to get her to relax. "Everyone can be an Evil Queen or King. It starts the moment you think of your life and how much it sucks. And how much less someone else's does compared to yours. When we stop fighting ourselves and start fighting each other."  
Emma felt faint still and she paused and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, Snow was listening. A rough, weary sound escaped her throat. "I still am. Fighting."  
James gave a small smile and stroked Snow's face.  
Snow gave a faint smile in return and a tear rolled down her face. "I needed you to know that. What you felt right now, when we touched, that's what I feel every time I fight it. And I'm just so tired." Snow closed her eyes and for a moment Emma saw a beautiful woman in a coffin. Who bit an apple to fall into a deep and tormented sleep, because she was tired.

Suddenly Emma had a whole different understanding of the story of Snow White. The fairytale she had been told at some point in her childhood, she had hated that. Snow was a naive victim and/or a beautiful idiot. Duped over and over again.  
But now she saw a princess who accepted each torment, because she was tired. She welcomed the apple that would finally put an end to the Queen's torture. A torment she had somehow caused. Death was a release. Until true love rescued her. Until she saw another option, until there was something worth fighting for.

Snow's eyes were still closed. James stroked her face again, wiping away the tear. "Come back to me."  
Snow's eyes fluttered open. "It might take me awhile to come back this time, but I will always find you."  
Snow closed her eyes again. James held her as she fell into a restless sleep a frown never far from her face. But as Emma began to right herself and drink from the glass of water Grace offered her, James began to hum. A smile played on Snow's face and she soon fell into a deep sleep.  
Red and Grumpy helped James carry Snow into her bed.  
Henry sat next Emma on the floor. Emma put her arm around him.  
"Those are my parents." Emma whispered. She could feel so much love between them. It was palpable. You could almost touch it. "I am a product of that."  
She felt her heart beat, like it was ready to burst. She was certain she had never in all her life, known so much sorrow and joy at the same time. She hugged her son, her beautiful son. Henry was beaming too.  
"God, I hope you find that." Emma whispered. "Everyone deserves that."  
"Oh yes, but everything has a price." A voice came from behind them. Rumplestiltskin.  
"What do you want?" Emma sighed.  
Rumplestiltskin handed Emma a sealed letter. "Open that when things get worst. Inside is something I think you'll see the value in."  
"Worst?" Emma frowned, unhappy to have her moment interrupted.  
"You know worse, than worse. Worst." Rumplestiltskin's voice was overly cheery, but his eyes were tired. "Oh and Cora is looking for an audience."  
"With me?" Emma sighed.  
"The whole family. The house of White."  
Emma frowned. Things were certainly going to get worse. "And if we refuse?"  
"Then I'm sure she'll come to you."  
***


	36. That which I could never give her

So as to let Snow sleep, Emma decided to ignore the open invitation.

"What shall we do instead?" James had asked wearily from the dining room table chair. "Wait for her to come here?"

Emma shrugged. "She knows where we live. And no one but me can leave this town, so we can't be going anywhere. Let her met us where we want to meet."

Grumpy nodded. "Like a home field advantage."

Henry sat up in his chair at the table, tall and ready to command. " I think we should go to the library."

"The boarded up place where the dragon was?" August frowned.

"There is an actually library with musty shelves and books." Red remarked from her post against the door. "If you go past the elevator."

Emma looked to Granny who had joined them in the past hour. "Does anyone know what was in the library? Or why it got boarded up?"

Granny nodded. "As far as I understand, that is where Regina threw everything that might have reminded people of our old memories. Stuff that came with us in the curse. There is probably a lot of very interesting things in there."

"Weapons?" Grumpy asked.

Granny shrugged.

"There was a dragon." Red smirked.

James sighed. "Okay. I'm staying here. I'll text Red if I need to say something. Or any of you can call me. Once Snow wakes up, I decide what my next move is. The rest of you can take a trip to the library if you want. Just be careful."

Henry beamed. "I'm sure we will learn some very important things."

Emma looked at him oddly. It almost seemed like Henry expected something very specific.

"Okay. Let's do it." Emma shivered away her concern. "Any info is better then none."

The group was soon on their way. Emma had to try for several minutes to figure out how to take down the ward on the locks, but she was pleasantly surprised that it had taken her that quickly. Emma really did secretly fear how much easier magic was now, like she had ages of practice and just needed to shake off the dust. She kept these feelings to herself as they entered the library.

Passing the elevator, Emma was in amazement of how much stuff was in there. Shelves upon shelves of haphazardly tossed about books and cobwebs. Henry seemed to be searching the walls, August was admiring the wood carving on the reading chairs, Red was running up and down the hallways, looking the place once over. Granny was cleaning dust off of chairs and desks and Grumpy was opening various books here and there.

Emma had the feeling that this was not, despite the mess, a random collection of materials thrown in a random library building in Storybrooke. This felt like an actual library, a very specific library.

August approached her. "I think that this is what remains of the Queen's library."

Emma turned and probed, glad someone else thought so. "The Evil…Regina's?" Emma wasn't sure why she changed her title mid thought, but she did.

August noticed, but didn't comment. " No, not Regina's. But it is the one that belonged to the summer palace she used to frequent. This is the library of King Leopold and his family. This is Snow White's library, just as much as it is Regina's." He gestured to the wood on the wall behind him. "That's King's Leopold's crest."

Emma was about to comment when Henry shouted. "Ah, ha."

The two walked towards him without comment.

Henry was boldly gesturing to a painting that was hanging on the west wall. Emma had to blink and she shivered when she looked at it.

"It looks like you." Red remarked in awe.

"The nose is different and she had a dimple on one cheek." August stated as though this were obvious. "Emma doesn't have a dimple."

Emma pretended she didn't notice that he knew these things. It seemed too intimate an observation. Like he had studied her face closely.

"Queen Margaret." She read the capture under the painting outloud. The woman did look like her, in royal garb she would never wear. A simple, elegant crown upon her head and a gracious smile. Emma knew she would never again doubt her heritage. The two woman could be confused on the street and mistaken for sisters easily.

"The heart of the matter is in the library." Henry muttered. "I wonder why this is so important, other then the obvious physical resemblance."

Emma frowned. This was the woman who gave birth to Snow. Who gave up her heart so that her daughter would not torment the world. She wore queenly robes, but Emma could feel that she knew hardship.

Grumpy approached the group with a book. "Here, listen to this. I found this in a desk drawer."

He read outloud.

"_Another baby that will never be. It is like I am cursed to have to bleed out again and again. I am almost ready to give up on sex entirely, just to ensure that I will never have to know that my dysfunctional womb and I will destroy another human life." _

"Are you reading her diary?" Emma had a flare of anger for this unknown relative. "Outloud even. In front of Henry at that?"

Grumpy shrugged. "We are here for information aren't we? Would you like me to edit things as I read." He seemed bristly.

"She seems like an impressive woman." Red commented breaking the tension.

"I know about sex already, mom." Henry rolled his eyes. His voice was confident, but his eyes were bothered and he seemed a bit uneasy. Emma breathed an internal sigh of relief. At least he still was a tad disgusted with the idea, at least for a few more years hopefully.

"Continue." Emma remarked. "But do take some concern for the mixed audience."

"Spoken like a mother." Granny remarked approaching the group. She gave Emma a warm smile.

Grumpy looked at the whole group, making sure they were listening again. "This is the really important part."

He continued.

"_I am pleased to have a visit from Cora, an old childhood friend." _

"Friend?" Emma interrupted. Grumpy glared. "Wait."

"_She is out of the horrible relationship with King George and her new husband seems kind and gentle. She too has had no success with children. While hers seem to make it through the 9 months just fine, they all seem to have had various heart problems and none of them have made it past 3 months of life."_

Here Grumpy paused. "King George's line was very…twisted."

Red laughed. "Yeah, the running joke was that the last three generations had all been changelings. Of course King George would shoot these rumors down. But I guess the family tree was so bent that none of the heirs could survive. The rumor is that he bought your father in a deal so that he could have an heir."

Emma nodded. She knew that her own father had been King George's son. Henry's book had said so. It seemed likely that he was traded for, rather then biological.

August confirmed this. "Rumplestiltskin made the deal. Your father came from a line of shepherds."

Grumpy frowned. "How come I didn't know that?"

August shrugged. "He's pretty secretive about it, I guess. Nothing to hide here though. Shepherds and Kings alike are stuck here."

Emma smiled, that was why her father smelled of countryside and wool, even now. It was in his blood. "Continue, Grumpy."

"_But this time, she is pregnant again with her new husband. I do so hope that she can find some sort of peace this time. Losing children is never easy, I should know. And she seems to need the peace. She is so much sadder and more bent then I remember her. I'm sure the rumors about King George are exaggerated, but I fear not by much. The man is a…"_

Grumpy coughed. "That I will edit for children's ears." Henry glared.

"_I only wish I could have talked to her during that time, but she wasn't allowed out of the palace. I do so hope that one day she realizes what she has in her new husband, Henry. He may be a bit older then her, but he loves her, I can tell. And after everything, she needs that. That which I could never give her."_

Grumpy stopped. "This is why I read this."

Emma frowned. "To show they knew each other well, and shared similar grief over lost children? Cora's possible abusive first marriage?"

Grumpy shook his head. "No the last line."

Granny sighed.

Everyone looked at her.

"It's just a rumor. But I guess it makes everything make sense in a twisted sort of way."

Emma frowned. "What?"

Granny shivered. She looked briefly at Henry before deciding how to word what she was about to say. "I had met Cora once when my daughter was growing up."

Red turned fast to face her. "You almost never talk about my mother."

Granny gave a weak, sad smile. "Andrea, she was…not the most amazing person."

Red frowned.

"Anyway, my job growing up was to walk into the nearest villages and get grain supplies. So my daughter did the same when she came of age. She used to repeat things she had heard at the village square, which I discouraged, but she persisted. Once when she was ill, I went to retrieve the grain instead. Rhea, had talked a lot about the miller girl, not some very kind things. But once I met her, I could see some of them were probably true at the core level. She was a very troubled soul, even at a young age."

Granny sighed again. No one seemed to be able to guess, so she was going to have to say it. "I don't usually spread gossip…"

"Go on." Red urged. "The suspense is killing me."

Granny raised an eyebrow, but continued. "The town gossip was that the miller's daughter was…" She searched for a kind turn of phrase. "not in the traditional way."

Emma was the first to understand. But Red announced it in shock. "She was a lesbian?"

Granny nodded.

Grumpy repeated the last line from the diary. "That which I could never give her."

Emma closed her eyes. How did this knowledge help them? It suddenly made her uneasy at best, thinking of how closely she resembled her grandmother. Especially with Cora running around, turning her into a swan and holding everyone in a constant state of horror.

Granny was fingering the necklace around Henry's neck when she opened her eyes.

"This was Cora's. She was always wearing it, until the day she disappeared from the village."

"Why did she disappear?" Henry asked, his questions about Cora's past finally being answered. Just as Rumplestiltskin had said.

Granny sighed. "Her father made up some ridiculous nonsense about her being able to spin straw into gold and a servant of King George took her to his palace, where she was tested. She must have sold her mother's necklace away to Rumplestiltskin in a deal."

Henry's eyes widened. "She is the miller's daughter from the Grimm fairy tale. The only story with Rumplestiltskin in it." He looked at Emma who twisted her mouth in thought. "In the Grimm tale, she traded a necklace away to save her life, because the king in the story threatened to kill her if she was lying."

Emma frowned. The Rumplestiltskin story about turning straw into gold, seemed more like a story of abuse and lies and the happy ending that the story provided with the death of Rumplestiltskin and the keeping of the baby, seemed to be a kind fabrication. Like the original ending hadn't been good. Like the Grimm brothers had needed a happy ending, so they forced one.

"It was the first of many trades." A voice interrupted her thoughts.

It was Cora.

Emma turned around and there with Regina at her side was Cora, standing tall and looking up at the painting as well. Her eyes met Emma's and she resisted the urge to shiver.

"Outside." Cora demanded. "The rest of the house of White is waiting."


	37. You won't find it here, with me

More diary, just for Leroy... :) Thanks, Temo.

***  
Emma paled when she saw James shackled to the tree outside the library, with dark magic, rather than chains. Snow was at his feet, tense and worried. Cora shooed them all out into the early afternoon sunlight. Regina approached from the pawnshop and Emma thought she saw Belle looking through the blinds in the nearest shop window.  
Rumpelstiltskin soon followed Regina into the town square. The motley crew stood gathered around the tree, uneasy.  
Cora smiled and greeted everyone. "So much work to get an audience, but I like the challenge."

Cora turned to Emma. "So you have seen Maggie."  
Emma nodded. She was frightened, but she wasn't about to show it. And if what Granny suspected was true, then well, she might have some sort of secret fodder. "Yeah, I saw the painting. The resemblance is uncanny." She remarked more calmly then she felt.  
Cora didn't respond to this, which made Emma think that maybe she had hit a nerve.  
So she continued. "We found her diary too." She smiled almost Cheshire cat like, if she thought about it.  
Cora frowned. "Maggie would never have written in a diary. Her mother was too nosy for that to be a good idea."

Emma closed her eyes briefly. She had just admitted that they knew each other well, but obviously not well enough. She opened her eyes, and gestured for Grumpy to hand her the book. Grumpy did, but gave her a warning look.  
Emma opened the book to a new page. Emma internally frowned, even the handwriting looked similar to Emma's cursive. Not the same, but similar.  
The word, Regina, caught her eye on the page and she began to read quickly. She paled slightly.  
"Well aren't you going to share?" Regina grumbled. Cora seemed restless beside her. "Since we are apparently in a stoking the fire mood."  
Emma met her gaze briefly and Regina wished she could take back her words. Emma was all act, but it was clear now, that she was afraid. What she had just read, she knew was not to be read out loud.

Emma shook her head no. "Why would I share? If this isn't her diary, then what would be the point?" She was stalling and now Cora seemed to believe her, now that a bit of fear was showing.  
Cora stepped in. "Henry can read it then. If you won't be obliging. Henry, read that particular bit, please."  
Emma glared and tried to close the book, but Henry who was standing beside her already had taken it. Emma gave him a shocked look. Henry tried not to meet her eyes. He scanned the page and his eyes widened. He looked up at Regina and then Cora and then over at Snow.

He began to read, but his voice was shaking. "_Cora came over today to discuss how we might proceed with her proposal. I have reservations about this magnitude of magic, but Cora seemed self-assured and keeps telling me that it isn't as hard as it sounds. Not that the complexity is what worries me. Anything involving Cora is complex. I am wondering if I should leave the future of my kingdom and my family in the hands of someone who is so bitter. Cora seems very different from when I last saw her. I had hoped that this new marriage with someone so devoted as Henry would give her some peace even if she couldn't manage to love him back the same way." _

Henry paused briefly, looking as though he was struggling with himself against continuing. He looked up at Regina instead of Cora. Regina however was studying her mother's reaction to this passage and didn't appear to notice. Cora looked stone faced and cold, as though she was holding back any sort of expression by sheer force. "Continue, Henry."  
Henry frowned. Emma grabbed his shoulders. "You don't have to do this." She peered into his eyes. "She is being a bully, but we don't have to bend to her."  
Henry shook his head. "I have to." Fear was in his eyes.  
Emma frowned. Her son was so much more afraid, more then she had ever seen him.  
She turned to Cora. Cora smiled wickedly. "Come now, tell them why you must do as I say."  
Emma glanced back at Henry who couldn't meet anyone's eyes. He muttered something.  
"So they can hear you. You must really learn to speak up." Cora used a patronizing tone of voice.

Henry raised his head, pale and gaunt looking again. "She bought me. She sold a heart in a box for my allegiance. I have to obey her every command or die slowly from resisting."  
Everyone turned their heads towards Rumpelstiltskin.  
"Why would you agree to this, you bastard?" Emma growled.  
He shrugged seemingly unaffected by her insult. But his voice seemed a forced cheerful. "You all know me and my ways. No surprises here. Do go on Henry, I love a good story. I'm sure you can't hold out must longer before you pass out and then it would be over, since you certainly couldn't obey her then, could you?"

Henry did look like he was going to faint. He gave a deep sigh and picked up the book again. The moment he began to read out loud again, color began to come back into his cheeks.  
"_My darling sister Marie,_  
_I haven't addressed anything to you in years, since it seemed silly as an adult to write to someone can not write back. But at least you will not judge me. _

_I should have made that deal. The first one that Rumpelstiltskin proposed. But the thought of taking the last bit of comfort that Cora had been allotted, her first child to live, was too much for me to swallow. But I should have made that deal. The little girl that I saw yesterday was not the smiling girl in the picture from 3 years ago. Poor Regina, a queen only in name." _

Henry's voice broke for a second. Emma gazed up at Regina. She had her eyes closed, so as not to give away her thoughts. But her face was drawn and tense. Tears began to flow down Henry's cheeks, but he continued.

_"She looked over cautious and timid. She accidentally knocked something over in the entrance hall in a moment of excitement and broke it. She cowered in fear as though she was to be kicked like a dog. Her mother was not in the room, but Regina cried and begged me not to use magic, that she would be more careful in the future. Use magic on the child for punishment! My maidservant who was with me, recovered first and assured her that we didn't use magic on little girls. I should have taken that damn deal, Marie. Maybe then at least someone would have cared for..." _

Regina cut Henry off. "Enough. Stop reading."  
Henry sagged, but looked relieved.  
Regina's jaw was tense. "I have heard enough crap, to know that this must be Margaret's diary. Always thinking that things would have been better with her. That she and her family were some sort of chosen people. She and all of her fuc..."

Cora now cut her off. "Shut up!" Her calm had disappeared. Regina had made motions to insult Maggie's memory and she had lost all restraint. She looked positively frightening for the first time and Regina backed down.

Snow stood, giving a pained glance at James before doing so. "What do you want, Cora?" She squared her shoulders and raised her chin, looking the picture of regality. "Why are we here? The past is past. What do you want from the future?"

Cora seemed stunned that Snow had stood up to her and took charge. But then she smiled. "You really are like all the best parts of her, your mother. I really was sorry to have to break you." Cora gave what looked like a kind smile, but her words made it frightening.  
Snow frowned. "And why is that? Why did you feel the need to 'break' me?"  
Cora stared directly into her eyes, "I could never be what you needed, Maggie. Something you could love. If I couldn't be good enough for you, then I figured the beast would make you bad enough to be with me. So I decided to ensure that the beast would leave us nothing, but each other. I can never own you, but the beast can, just as it has taken me as its own. Soon there will be nothing left, but you and I. The beast takes everything else."

There was a stunned silence.

Snow was the first to respond. Her demeanor was still regal, but her voice was wavering. "All this suffering, your daughter's, mine, my husband's, my children's, a whole mess of innocent people's, this was all over my mother's heart?"  
Cora met her gaze, her eyes dark and frightening, like the beast instead of Cora. "I will have what I was promised. Even if I have to take it by force or crush it with desperation."  
Cora looked at Rumplestilskin with a stony glare.

Snow held her gaze for a moment before glancing at Rumpelstiltskin as well. Snow gave a quick look at James, which Emma couldn't see, but James paled. "Don't."  
Snow however, seemed to be running on her own steam now, like a train derailing, because the fire was already too stoked.

Before anyone could even guess what was about to happen, dark magic was felt among the members present. Snow grabbed her chest and in one direct motion she ripped a heart out of her chest. It was glowing and pulsing on its own and Red screamed.  
Emma felt her own heart beat furiously in her chest. It was like watching a nightmare, just like the one she had dreamt days ago, and realizing that it was real, that you couldn't wake up.  
"Take it, take it now and leave me and my family in peace." Snow growled holding out the hand with the heart. "I hope you find what you were looking for. Because you won't find it here with me."  
Cora seemed stunned too and she took a minute to accept the heart. She tenderly took it into her hands. The moment that it left Snow's hand and sat in Cora's, Snow dropped to her knees and hands, shaking and breathing rapidly. But calm soon settled in and Snow stood again. At first, her face was blank, cold and unfeeling, but then a wicked smile graced her face. "Congratulations, I win."  
Cora blinked. "You always do." But she didn't seem pleased. Cora summoned a box with magic and carefully placed the heart inside it. Cora and the box then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Regina now stood before the group and Snow and looked like she was spiraling out of control as well, but internally, her thoughts racing. There was a deathly silence.  
"Well, what can I offer you? I have taken much from you over the years." The creature that was not Snow asked, rather snakelike and oily, directing its question at Regina.  
There was a long pause as Regina slowly emerged from her tangled thoughts. "Piss off, beast." Her voice and her eyes were hard.  
Snow Dark shook her head in amusement. "I see your challenge is still on then. Give up. You can't rescue her. Snow is dead."  
Regina grabbed Snow's necklace and pulled her closer. Her eyes were fiery and she looked frightening. "You only wish that were true, beast. But don't worry; this is not a rescue mission. I mean to kill you, beast. And if Snow White has to die too, to do so, do not think that I will hesitate." Regina released her and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Snow Dark rubbed her neck and turned to Rumpelstiltskin. "Don't forget what I had Regina tell you. If you are to defy me and work against me, so be it. I like challenges and this will be the hardest for you. Because I do own you." The beast gave a sinister smile. "You have one more open deal, if I recall, and would hate for that to...cause any harm because you sat on it and did not act."

Rumpelstiltskin blinked, but said nothing. He picked up the discard diary on the ground. He turned to the page they were on before now dusty and crinkled. He read the rest of the page out loud.  
_"Now I am to lose everything. My own daughter will be born, but I shall die. She will never know love and affection from me, her mother. But it is the price I must pay for my foolishness. I hope that she turns out better then me. Or at least better then Cora. If not, then may the two of us be thrown into the depths of the mines burning in the fires that fuel the earth. For that will be all that we can offer the world." _  
He stopped and closed the book. "The two of us. Funny, I never saw it that way before. I saw mother and daughter combined. But then with the little ordeal with the forgetting potion, then I had my proof. Two hearts in the same chest." Rumpelstiltskin smiled. "You'll have your deal, don't worry. But if Snow White, dark as she was created, can grow her own heart, a heart capable of great love, a small heart that still beats inside your chest, then anyone can be saved. Anyone can be the fairest of them all. The Whitest shade of pale. Even me." His eyes flashed and the two of them, Snow and the beast, held his gaze for a few minutes.

For a moment, it seemed like Snow was going to cry, but this quickly disappeared. Snow Dark shook her head furiously.  
"Once I destroy Snow White, I will have the body to myself. Don't think I will not use it to destroy you. I know someone, that knows where your knife is." The beast growled softly. When Rumpelstiltskin paled slightly, the beast smiled. Then a black cat slinked off leaving the remaining crowd in abject terror.


	38. This too shall pass, eventually

***  
After futile attempts to release the magical bonds, holding James to the tree, Emma sank down onto the ground in front of it.  
"You want to hear the whole story now?" Rumplestiltskin cackled. He handed the diary to Henry.  
Emma closed her eyes, pale and gaunt. She looked at Henry who looked worse, clutching the book like a lifeline, tears streaming down his face.  
Emma rubbed his shoulders. "The CliffNotes version, please. We have been through enough already today."  
Rumplestiltskin nodded. "I, Rumplestiltskin, the Dark One, have many powers, the amount of which has grown as my deals require. The more magic I use, the stronger the darkness becomes. I lost a son centuries ago to magic, because I could not manage to get rid of the dark magic. He sought a cure and I was a coward and backed out of our deal. Centuries of grief and agony caused me to begin making deals, instead of freely using my powers. I swore I would never back out on another deal, ever again."  
He propped himself against his cane, lost in thought for a moment, but Emma's stern gaze made him continue. "I made many deals, but it wasn't until I made one deal in particular, that I realized that even I could be saved. I wasn't confined to a lifetime of servitude to the darkness. I could have real power, the kind that comes from painful redemption. I was going to fix all the wrongs that I had created and then I was going to find my son, who I had finally discovered had dropped into this world, the world outside of Storybrooke."  
"Which deal is this?" Emma roughly questioned.  
"Why, the one with your mother. She came to erase her love, love for a man that she could never be with. She wanted to erase the pain that comes with unrequited love. Something that both Cora and I were equally familiar with. The most painful kind of love. So I gave her what she wanted. But she reclaimed it back. Which I thought was impossible. I had taken love from her heart, but she fell in love with the same man, all over again."

"Why is this odd?" August asked quietly, words coming to him for the first time.

"Because I took love from her heart. I can't make people fall in love, but I can take it away. The love in her heart was gone, yet she managed to love. Why? Because I had taken away the love in her mother's heart. The only one I knew about. But somehow something had managed to love James. Snow White had. When I discovered this, I knew what I had to do."  
Rumplestiltskin grinned. "Snow White was so incredible. Really, the fairest of them all, not in beauty, though she was quite a looker, but it actual fairness. She was beaten down time and time again, but she kept getting back up. Snow White had developed her own soul. She didn't need her mother's heart to be a decent person. She was still a weak and fragile heart, but over the years she come to love more than just a husband, but a child, and...a grandchild. This has strengthened her heart. Just wait, you'll see. Her mother's heart is now missing from her chest, but she is strong enough as long as she loves, you'll see."

Rumplestiltskin flicked his fingers and released James from the tree.  
"You know what the beast can and can't do. So you know what it will do first. If it means to destroy Snow for good, you know what it will try first. Think about what I asked of you." Rumplestiltskin directed his comment to James. Then he turned to the group.  
"Any questions?"  
"Just one." Henry lifted his head, shocking Emma.  
"Who wrote the storybook?" Henry asked grimly. "It is so far off from the whole story, that it is practically worthless."  
Rumplestiltskin grinned. "Why, you did my boy." He pointed at Henry.  
Henry frowned in confusion. "How?"  
"You, as an old man will take great pains to create your beloved book. I saw this in the future and I traveled to the future to retrieve it from you when magic came through. I brought it backwards to Snow, which started the whole chain of events. Per your request."  
Henry frowned in disbelief. "Why would I want this to happen, and why would I leave out so much?"  
"You only put in this storybook what, future You, thought that 10 year old You could handle, my dear. As far as why, I can only assume that you needed the outcome that you lived through to happen. It must have been worth it, but you refused to talk about it, so I wouldn't really know your exact reasoning."  
Henry crossed his arms at his chest. "Why would I believe you?"  
Rumplestiltskin shook his head. "The believer has become the unbeliever. Funny how things turn around."

Rumplestiltskin turned and began to walk away from the group. "If you don't believe me, comb through the pages again. If you still doubt me then, then it will be to your detriment not mine."  
Henry stood abruptly. "If you talked to future me, I would have given you a message to take back."  
Rumplestiltskin turned around abruptly. "You did."  
"What was it then?" Red asked.  
Rumplestiltskin smiled broadly. "The message wasn't for you, Henry. It was for Regina."  
Henry cocked his head. Then to everyone's amazement and delight, he began to smile.  
"That sounds exactly like me." Henry beamed.  
James raised his head and Henry smiled at him. Then he turned and smiled at Emma.  
And what should have been a moment of hopelessness for the future, faded away, leaving enough strength for another day to fight.

When Rumplestiltskin entered his pawnshop again, Belle greeted him at the door. She was anything, but pleased to see him. If she had magic, Rumplestiltskin might have actually feared that she would have used it against him, she was so angry.  
" You made an open ended deal with Emma," were her first words. "You know how dangerous that is. Why would you do such a thing? And poor Henry, why would you agree to sell his allegiance? You can't take people's free will away like that. Look at all the trouble this has caused."  
Rumplestiltskin sighed. "I didn't take away his will. He can always choose to disobey commands."  
"And die." Belle challenged.  
"Sometimes those are the only two options in life."  
Belle seethed. "And I suppose that you are going to ask Emma, for her deal, to die, breaking the curse. Like that is the only option."  
"There are many ways to be saved, that is the last possible option." Rumplestiltskin countered. "For her, and the people she calls family, there are many options."  
Belle's eyes narrowed. "What did she mean by getting hurt, if you don't seal the deal?"  
Rumplestiltskin hobbled over to a chair and sat down. "The beast will take its payment from me. Whatever it desires." He looked sadly up at Belle.  
Belle knew that likely meant her. She frowned. "Close the deal, but don't ask for her death. Ask for something good. She saved a baby with her deal after all, there is little to no darkness in that request."  
Rumplestiltskin nodded, but was still grimacing.  
Belle started to walk out of the room, but she turned before passing through the curtain into the back room. "And one more thing. If you make any more deals, I will never speak to you again. Do you understand? Never." Fire in her voice, gave her a harsh, unkind look. Rumplestiltskin knew that she meant it. This is how she would break his heart. She would leave him and never return.  
He nodded. "I understand completely." He met her gaze.  
At that moment the shop door opened. Emma charged in alone.  
"Did you mean what you said? That you are trying to fix things?" Emma demanded.  
Rumplestiltskin sighed and stood. "Yes, every word."  
"Then why do you lord an unfinished deal over my head? Why do you tell half truths and cryptic messages?" Emma growled.  
"Would you have believed Henry or played along with his fairy tale obsession, if everything you know now had been in that book?" Rumplestiltskin asked kindly.  
Emma frowned, trying to envision this. "No, that would have made things not just crazy, but dangerous to believe in. I would have taken him from here immediately."  
Rumplestiltskin nodded in agreement. "So too have I not disclosed everything, so as to keep things moving forward in a cautious manner. I know that you too are hiding something from Henry, because you believe it best that he not know. So surely you understand."  
Emma seemed to ponder this. "What kind of thing are you going ask of me?"

Rumplestiltskin walked towards a countertop on the other side of the room. He fingered a glass unicorn mobile. "This was going to be yours, but circumstances changed."  
Emma gazed at the beautiful mobile briefly with a sad awe, but she quickly directed things back. "What does this have to do with what you are going to ask of me?"  
Rumplestiltskin smiled gently. "I was going to ask you...to die. And I had to time it just right, so I waited. But circumstances have changed."  
Emma paled and twisted her mouth. "Why would you want me to die?"

Rumplestiltskin shook his head. "Not want. Need." He turned to gaze at Belle briefly, seeing if she was still listening. "You aren't the curse breaker, you are part of the curse. The backdoor. The do-over. A heart was sacrificed to get us here, and you must die, if anyone ever expects to go back. I needed you to die, if things got out of hand, if there was no other way to fix things. Then I would get to try again...and so would you." Rumplestiltskin emphasized this last part. "You would get to try again, because your death would cause us to go back...before your birth. You would likely go back into the tree, and I will get 28 years to try again, to come up with new plans, for when you arrived."

Emma squared her shoulders. "But you aren't going to ask this now?"  
"No. I think that with everything that has happened, and might happen, if things got so out of hand, that I would wish that I had required this sacrifice of you, that you will likely desire the same thing. You care too much about these townspeople to flee now. So no need."  
There was silence as Emma closed her eyes and reflected on this. When she opened her eyes, Rumplestiltskin smiled. They were indeed on the page now. She wasn't going to challenge his assumption at least.  
"So what are you going to ask for?" Emma sighed, energy draining from her stance.  
Rumplestiltskin twisted his cane in his hand. "You saved me from taking a baby from its mother. In your mind, you saved a life, though I assure you it was unnecessary. So this is what your bargain will be. You will be forced to save another's life."  
"Whose?"  
"Regina's."  
Emma blinked. "By doing what?"  
Rumplestiltskin could feel the magic of the deal closing as he laid the actual request forward. "Your end of the bargain is this. You will not, under any circumstance, destroy Regina Mills."  
Magic crackled in the air and Emma knew that she had no say in the matter, that there was no, no deal, option. She had already made the bargain.  
She took a deep breath and gazed at Rumplestiltskin with venom. "And I'm going to very much want to do so, very soon, aren't I?"  
Rumplestiltskin gave a wicked grin and a small cackle. "Indeed. But this too shall pass. Eventually. I just need the assurance that you will make it past this weekend. Or at least tomorrow."  
Emma growled. "What is going to happen tomorrow?"  
"You'll see. Now go back to the station. Be with your father and your son. Tomorrow always comes too soon."  
Emma snorted and placed her hands in her jacket pockets. She stormed out of the pawnshop and slammed the door, knocking the bell off.  
There was a brief silence, before Belle turned go through the curtain. "No more deals."  
"No more deals." Rumplestiltskin echoed. Though he knew with all of his being, that this was going to be very unlikely. It was a lie of the gravest matter. He had seen the future. It didn't matter. He was going to lose everything.  
But he deserved it.  
***


	39. What no one should have to bear

***  
When Emma awoke the next morning, she found an arm around her. Her head was fuzzy and she tried peering into the past night, but everything was blurry too. She turned in worry, but it was her father whose arm was around her. She was clothed, he was clothed and his eyes were open and he gave a kind, half smile.  
Emma moaned and turned back over.  
"How are you feeling?" James asked.  
"My head hurts like hell and I have little to no memories after my visit to the pawn shop." Emma muttered. Images flashed of her ranting, but she could remember none of what she had said. Somewhere a bottle of whiskey was involved. Sobbing, and a warm hand on her shoulder.  
"Oh, God. Where's Henry?" Emma moaned.  
James sat up on the cot and brushed the hair out of Emma's face. "Aug...Pinnochio has him. They are studying the book in greater detail, trying to see if they can find something to help us. To see if Henry really did leave himself extra clues."  
"I hope he didn't see any of that." Emma sighed thinking of all the horrible things she could have said.  
James frowned. "Unfortunately so. Once you threw the whiskey bottle at August, he followed him to his room at Granny's, per my request." He gave Emma a harsh glance. "I know what Rumplestiltskin must have told you was difficult to live with, but you can't do what you did last night. You are his mother, his guiding light. You still haven't learned to think of Henry first. At all times."  
Emma closed her eyes. "Now, you are reprimanding me."  
"Isn't that part of my job?" James kindly replied. "Something I haven't really got the chance to do."  
There was a tense silence.  
"He didn't want to leave, you know. Henry." James added. "I told him, he had to. It wasn't his job, helping you. I told him I would take care of you. So I did, I stayed with you, right here."  
Emma's throat constricted. Her father had held her all night. No one had ever done that before. Emma suddenly felt suffocated.  
She sprang forth from the jail cot and started to clean up the mess she had made, even though her head was pounding.  
Her father put a pot of coffee on to boil. Just the smell of it, calmed Emma.  
"What did I say?" Emma asked softly, as she swept up the broken glass on the floor.  
James placed a cup of coffee on her desk.  
"Well, at first you were pretty angry. then it moved to something about everyone being born to die. You threw your whiskey glass at August when he tried to cut you off. Then later when it was just the two of us, you told me about Sylvia."  
Emma looked up sharply. She never talked about Sylvia.  
James gave her a kind smile. "She seems like a great lady. Wise and compassionate. "  
Emma nodded. "Best damn foster mother I ever had." She looked back down trying to keep her face passive. "Even if it was only for 6 months."  
James smiled sorrowfully and handed Emma the dustpan. "I'm sorry that you had to lose her so quickly."  
"That's why I ended up in Arizona, pregnant with Henry. I had to see her one last time, even if I got caught." Emma stood and met her father's eyes. "Which I did. She was dying of brain tumors in her parent's home in Phoenix and I stayed with her until she passed. Her parents at least had the decency to wait to call the police on a wanted child arsonist, until she had passed." Emma tried to sound tough, but her head was still pounding and she just managed to sound tired.  
James frowned slightly. "Arson? Is that what you were put in juvenile for?"  
Emma sat down in her chair and took a sip of coffee. She then looked at her hands. "Yep, I'm a firestarter." She had burned more than a garage with her hands. She had burned a few people too. She was a magical firestarter too. She sighed.  
"That is one thing I would do again though. The man whore deserved it. Wooing and sleeping with an underage girl. A married man who knew exactly what he was doing. He had done it before and after all the irreplaceable collector's items I burnt to ashes, he will never do it again." Emma gave a satisfied grin, but her father saw past that.  
"I'm sorry he hurt you." Emma was quickly embraced by her father. They stood in contented silence for several minutes.  
"Is he Henry's father?" James asked quietly, breaking the silence.  
Emma nodded, inhaling deeply the scent of her father. "He looks so much like him, charming and suave, even at ten. Draws you in, makes you want to change the world."  
Emma stepped back from her father's embrace. "But Henry isn't a thing like his father, not really. He has such a big heart. The emotional strength of several people. He wants to help people, not hurt them. His charm comes from his personality, it isn't an act."  
James stood silently for a moment and then sadly smiled. "He's also ten. His father may have been all those things and very strong, but know that the strongest fall the hardest. Everyone has a breaking point. We must be very careful at this point. Henry must not think that he has to be your savior. That he alone must bear the weight of the world, this world, on his small shoulders. There is a difference between protection and defense."  
Emma closed her eyes. His words were too right. He knew what it was like to struggle, just as she did. He knew what it was like to go from watching over sheep to a whole kingdom to a whole world.  
"Otherwise, he'll end up like Regina."  
Emma frowned. "Like Regina?"  
James sighed. "Somewhere along the line, Regina went from emotionally distant to reluctant mother and guardian, to wanting to destroy the thing that she was protecting. It was too much of a burden, she was not strong enough to bear the weight on her own."  
Emma's stomach was queasy now with the hangover and just coffee in her stomach. Or maybe it was stress too.  
"And even though Rumplestiltskin totes that Snow is strong enough to stand up to the beast, I don't believe him. No one is ever strongest alone. And Regina is many years and many wounds past being Snow's protector or defender." James sighed and turned to face Emma and looked her straight in the eyes.  
"Today, the beast will make its move, I'm sure of it. It will come for me, because I am the only thing that Snow loves, that it can actually willingly destroy. I just want you to know, so you can be prepared. There is a plan A and a plan B. If they both don't work, well..." he trailed off.  
Emma gave a grim smile. She embraced him this time. "Everyone is born to die."  
But this time she was peaceful as she said it.  
Her father didn't know about the last possible option. She too could die today, but she could also be born again. She knew she could do it too. Wasn't that the twisted plan all along? She could die. Die for her father, for her mother, for everyone.


	40. You make me want to change the world

***  
Emma walked into the diner, cleaned, dressed and a little makeup to hide her still pale, ill complexion. Henry was being fed eggs and August was drinking coffee. They were the only customers in the diner, everyone apparently hiding away in their own homes. Henry cautiously greeted Emma and she tried to give her best, I'm just fine, smile. It must have worked or else Henry could feel the calm that comes from accepting one's possible future.  
Emma sat and ordered another coffee and some toast. Red speedily jumped to the order.

"I'm sorry." Emma apologized softly.  
Henry gave a compassionate smile. He started to say that it was no problem, but Emma cut him off.  
"No, it wasn't acceptable. If I'm going to be a part of your life, I need to act like a mother. Not a small child." As Emma spoke these words, she realized two things. One, that perhaps this was the reason her mother had limited interaction with her at the moment. And two, why though Regina had initially fought tooth and nail with her over Henry, she had backed off as of late.

Henry nodded and smiled. He slid the book over and opened it to a specific picture. It was a picture towards the beginning of the book. It was of young adult Snow reading in a garden. The text was talking about her beauty and her kindness being well known throughout the kingdom. But Henry pointed the picture. He was beaming. Emma studied it closely. Henry pointed to the book spine. Emma squinted. Henry handed her a magnifying glass. In small block letters, the spine of the book said Storybrooke. Not Storybook, Storybrooke.

Henry smiled. "That's only the first picture. There are others, with many little hints. I totally wrote this, I know I did."

August added to this. He smiled at Emma kindly, Henry's joy rubbing off on his somber thoughts. "Show her the page with Regina and the heart."

Henry flipped to the familiar picture with Regina holding a box out to the Huntsman demanding Snow White's heart. Henry pointed to the elaborate box. "Regina didn't have a box like that in the Enchanted Forest. But I do. She ordered it online for my 8th birthday. It's a trick box. It has a false floor that if you pound it hard the item drops into the bottom chamber, so it looks like the box is empty." Henry's smile waned for a moment. "It was the cause of our first real fight. She discovered that I had read the first Harry Potter book and I had developed a small obsession with all things magic."  
Emma gave a quiet snort, but smiled at him.  
"Archie suggested the box. It came with a packet of magic cards too. Her hope was that if I knew how magic worked by reading the instructions that I would get bored with the idea and move on. Because magic would lose its, well, 'magic'." Henry continued with a somber smile. "It didn't work however."  
Henry frowned. "I guess I understand now why she was so afraid. Magic was really real for her. And it had been anything but kind."

Emma put her hand over his and squeezed. That was something Nina did, it seemed motherly. When her thought drifted to Nina, she had a horrible thought. James, her father had not only warned her about Henry, but he also seemed convinced that the dark magic, or the beast, would attack him, since he was not protected by the spell like she was and he was Snow's stronghold. The beast couldn't willingly harm Emma or Henry. Not willingly.

But Regina already had hurt Henry and so had she. There were many unknowing ways to hurt the people you cared about. She had to give Henry defences, not protection.  
"Henry."  
Henry looked up with a smile.  
But Emma's serious face caused it to disappear. "I need to confess something, before things get out of hand. I lied to you about something to protect you, but someone or something is bound to tell you the truth. But with a nefarious purpose. You are my weak spot, one of my biggest and I'm sure the darkness will try its best to target you."  
Henry frowned, but reassured her. "But the beast can't willingly harm me or you. Because of the spell."  
Emma shook her head. "It doesn't need to try to harm you, to be able to. Everyone has that sort of power. Think of all the good intentions around here, that have still failed and brought suffering."  
Henry looked to protest and August gave her a warning glance.  
"I thought you should hear the truth from me, before someone else tries to use it, to attack you." Emma continued firmly, but somberly. She looked into Henry's eyes and tried to show how important this was to him.  
Henry's eyes widened. "Okay..."

Emma took a deep breath. "Your father was not a fireman. He hadn't worked a hard day in his adult life, really. He married into deep family money and lived quite nicely, that was his goal. But he didn't love his wife, but he was good at pretending to. He was also good at pretending to be a lot of things. I was on the lam from my last foster home and working in a diner illegally. He found me there and well,..." Emma sighed. "What was between us was chemistry and a lot of lies. A lot of beautiful lies, I really wanted to believe." She met Henry eyes again. His eyes were cloudy and hard to read. "I didn't know he was married and when I did find out, when I told him about you...well..."  
Emma wanted to stop, she saw his sorrow in his eyes, but he needed to hear it from her. Never from someone else. "His darkness began to show. He told me he would pay for...services... to eliminate the problem. He was married, he couldn't have this getting out, his dalliances. When I refused, he became adamant and well he threatened to send me back in the system, if I didn't comply."  
Henry paled. "So he knew who you were all along."  
Emma sighed. "Yes." She squeezed his hand and met his eyes. A plate clattered in the back.  
"I know you are listening, Red. So you might as well come sit out here."  
Red sheepishly smiled and propped up against the counter.

Emma rolled her eyes and continued. "But wouldn't do it. I couldn't do it. I decided I would rather go back for another year, into the system where I was tossed from place to place, then to destroy the something so small that I cared about more then anything."  
Henry gave a weak half smile. Then he closed his eyes. "How did you get in jail?"  
Emma released his hand. "I knew when I refused his offer again, that I would quickly be reported. So I decided to make him suffer first for his deception and his hard heartedness. I knew he had a prized car, a little VW beetle, one of the real ones used in the movies, one of the dozens of Herbies. He had a garage just for it along with other irreplaceable items related to his love of cars. He had showed me it once, since he knew how much I like the Herbie movies when I was really small. He loved that car, perhaps more than anything. So I stole a torch, and I burnt it, I burnt the whole garage."  
Emma looked down at Henry. This time she hadn't felt satisfaction telling the story, now she felt shame.  
"He didn't love his wife, but he was protecting her. And that one moment of satisfaction for me, destroyed her. It was in the news, what he had done, he was forever listed as a sex offender, his wife and her family, drug through the court trials."  
Emma stopped and swallowed. "And I didn't know who his wife was until then. Until the trials. It was Nina. My one constant in a lifetime of inconsistency. My social worker who tried tirelessly to find a great match for me, who didn't tolerate my backtalk or my nonsense. Who told me that acting like an ass was going to make people treat me like one. That not every ugly duckling, will be noticed as a swan, if they don't act like one."

Emma sighed. "She really did believe her husband loved her. He was her one constant, and I didn't think once about his wife, I only thought about myself. I destroyed her belief in love and then I ran. I ran to the only other woman who had been like a mother to me, Sylvia."  
"I ran so I could watch her die of cancer. She needed the comfort and I needed to know that I was losing the only other woman I respected. I needed to see it."  
Suddenly Emma had switched from talking to Henry, to musing out loud. August cleared his throat loudly, bring her back into focus. Emma quickly wiped away a tear that had escaped.  
She cleared her throat. "I guess what I'm trying to say, Henry, is that your father is a mess, but so was I."

Emma took a deep breath. "But none of that has anything to do with you. Nina was right. You are your own person, only you determine what kind of person you want to be. I changed my last name from the generic Smith, to Swan, because I decided that, that was what I wanted to be. You came here and told me all these stories I thought were ridiculous, but I stayed because somewhere in them, was something I wanted to be. I became sheriff, because I finally believed that I could protect something, instead of destroying it."  
Emma laid her badge on the table. "And I came here today, to tell you that I know what you expect of me, to be this town's savior. It isn't going to be easy or safe, but I have given up on both of those things. And now, I think I finally want to be what you have been preaching all along. You make me want to change the world."  
Emma gave Henry a large closed smile and her eyes were threatening to tear up again.  
Henry, however was actually crying. Emma turned to worry and stood quickly, but Henry jumped off the chair and embraced her tightly.  
"I love you." Henry buried his face in her shirt. "Thank you for believing me."  
The tears spilled from Emma's eyes. "Thank you for believing _in me_. I love you too."

They stood there for many minutes, just in each other's arms.

When Emma's surroundings came back into focus, Red was wiping away tears and August flashed Emma a smile. A warm comforting smile, like a hug.  
Suddenly, Emma realized that he loved her too. Like love, loved her. Not the physical attraction alone that she felt between them when he was the Stranger and she was just the blond smart ass sheriff.  
Emma flashed him a quick smile back, but immediately got things rolling again. She could not deal with this right now, so she ignored the numerous possibilities. Not all of them good.  
"Okay, so what did the two of you decide? Do we have a plan?" Emma questioned.  
Henry was spurred into action. He hopped back up on the stool at the counter. "I'm going to try to recreate the end of this book, to the best of my ability and my memory. Then I'm going to leave it with Red in case you need it later. You are going to the Toll Bridge."  
"Oh?" Emma questioned.  
Henry smiled. "To hear the rest of the story. The part that was never in the book." He flipped the pages to the one with Grumpy and Snow in jail together. "Grumpy is going to accompany you."  
Emma was about to question this plan, when in walked Grumpy into the diner. "Usual order, Red."  
"Nope." Henry challenged. "You are taking my mother to the Toll Bridge, first."  
Grumpy looked slightly pissed that a 10 year old was ordering him around and making him skip out on a meal. But he stopped when he saw his face. It was pleading.  
"It will be worth your while. You should know too." Henry added fingering the necklace of Cora's that was still around his neck.  
Grumpy raised an eyebrow seeing the necklace again, but he admitted defeat and agreed.  
"Well, milady." He held out his arm to Emma. "Let's take a long walk."  
Emma awkwardly accepted his arm and the two of them started off.  
***


	41. The light in the darkness

***  
As a head's up, if you don't remember chapter 29 The promise, you might want to re-read it again, before this chapter.

Emma's eyes were wide with shock. Not only were there three fairies hiding out in dark clothes and whispering in hush tones under the bridge, but Nova, whom Grumpy was beyond pleased to see that she had survived the attack, had just told her a very difficult to swallow story.  
It burned worse than all the whiskey that she had just consumed the previous night.  
"So, Cora's magic, became Snow's magic, which became part of Regina's magic." Grumpy clarified, now that Emma was frozen, barely processing.  
Nova nodded. "But it is worse than that."  
"Oh?" Grumpy questioned.  
The second fairy stepped forward. Emma remembered her being called Daisy.  
"All of it was at one time, Regina's magic."  
Emma blinked. "All of that dark magic was Regina's?"  
Daisy shook her head. " You aren't born with dark magic. Regina's had no allegiance, just as yours does not. It has changed over time, just as its bearers have."  
Emma nodded. That made sense. "Who are you?"  
"It's Daisy if you don't re..."  
"No, no, I remember your name. Who are you in this story?" Emma cut her off.  
Daisy sighed. "I was the fairy chosen to tell Cora that her daughter was too powerful to be left to her own devices. That it was highly suggested, if not required, that she join the fairies at a young age, so that her magic would be spread out evenly between the fairies. That she wouldn't have to bear such a large weight on her own."  
Grumpy frowned. "Cora didn't take well to that, I assume."  
"No. She had already lost three children before the age of three months, Regina was her first healthy child." Daisy frowned.  
Emma frowned too. So Cora had been in love with her grandmother who didn't love her back, forced into marriage with a monster with a crown, lost three children early on, and manipulated, emotionally suffocated and was destroying her last child, all in effort to hold onto something. Cora really was a piece of work, but Emma finally felt like she was understanding. She had known nothing but suffering and loss, and so she was able to give nothing, but that back.

Emma shuttered. She thought of all the times where she could easily have made a different choice, or someone hadn't been there to support her when she needed a rock. How easy it was for Regina to end up just like her mother, something she seemed to still be fighting. Which lent Emma a measure of respect for the mayor.

But it was also just as easy for Emma to become Cora.  
Cora was banking on it.  
Cora was steps ahead of her. Emma swallowed hard.  
She turned to the third fairy, the youngest and the quietest. She had not once heard her speak.  
"And who are you in this story? Why are you with these two?"

The little girl fairy lifted her eyes to meet Emma's. Suddenly she knew, why she looked so familiar. She had Regina's eyes. Dark and deep brown and full of raw emotion.  
The fairy gave a heavy sigh. She looked 6 or 7, but it was clear she was much older.  
"My name is Sophia. I am Henry Mills's younger sister. Not your Henry, The Henry."  
She picked up a rock and skipped it across the creek.  
"I too was born with magic. Not a lot, just simple magic. I could read a person, see past their fronts into their hearts. That was all. The fairies would call on my mother occasionally to have me meet someone. All I had to do was touch them and I could see their hearts. One time they brought another fairy to me. I knew the moment I saw her, something wasn't right. When I touched her I felt like I was slowly suffocating."  
Sophia skipped another rock and fell into silence.  
"It was a dark fairy. Hiding out among our own." Daisy added. "It fled upon detection and took Sophia with her."  
Emma bent down a picked up a rock. "What is a dark fairy?"  
"A fairy who has turned to dark magic. They aren't easy to detect, unless you catch them in the act of performing dark magic." Nova answered. "Sometimes it is a personal choice, sometimes it is sabotage."  
"Poor Novilla." Daisy muttered. "She didn't deserve it."  
There was a dry silence between them.  
Sophia skipped another stone.  
"So the thing Cora calls the beast, it really does exist?" Emma asked.  
"Sure does." Grumpy answered. "We dwarves are taught early on how to tell good magic from bad magic. We avoid certain tunnels and certain people with this information. But mostly the beast, or whatever you want to call it. Dwarves call it the Black Diamond. Fairies call it the Heart of Darkness."  
Daisy nodded. "Good magic might make things difficult, it may not solve your problems or anyone elses. But serving the Heart of Darkness suffocates all the free will out of you. Nothing but a shell doing the darkness's bidding. Death is honorable at that point." She gave a fierce look. "Novilla practically begged to die. The Blue Fairy was very upset for many years."  
Sophia skipped another rock. This time her stone made seven hops and she smiled.  
Her calm was a bit unnerving to Emma.  
Something strange came to Emma. "You're the real Blue Fairy aren't you?" Sophia had the calm and the silent leadership that Sylvia had.  
Sophia looked up sharply, surprised that Emma had asked this question. She seemed to search Emma's eyes, her childlike gaze replaced by a piercing hawk look, one that Emma had seen many times on Regina's face.  
Sophia walked towards the group again and with lightning fast reflexes she grabbed Emma's arm.  
Emma was instantly flooded with her own memories, most of them ones she would rather not reflect on. But those were quickly pushed aside in favor of happier ones. But even these quickly faded and there was darkness, emptiness in Emma's mind. Emma knew she ought to be pushing her out or something like the Blue Fairy had taught her, but the calm silence gave her pause. For one of the first times in her life, Emma's initial reaction had not been to close herself off.  
She felt this warm, glow of happiness in the darkness. She thought of Henry's hug that morning. That was the closest way to describe it. That was how the nothingness felt.

And then suddenly the connection was broken and the sounds and smells of the creek rushed into Emma's mind. She opened her eyes quickly. Sophia was smiling with a look in her eyes and with a grin that could only mean pride. Emma supposed in some way, she was related to her, so it brightened her outlook for a moment that had been pleased with whatever she had seen.  
"You are your mother's daughter." She remarked and picked up another stone. She held it up inspecting it. "Your strength comes from your suffering."  
She flung the stone and it sunk quickly, ripples radiating from the center. "The Blue Fairy was an honorable woman. During her particular reign, she made a lot of very important changes, and had the most amount of successful novices become and stay fairies."  
Nova made the comment Emma was thinking. "Was?"  
"The first Blue Fairy has been dead for many, many centuries. Any other fairy that totes themselves as The Blue Fairy is doing themselves a disservice. You can not chose to be the Blue Fairy, you can only become the Blue Fairy. So as far as I am concerned there is no Blue Fairy."  
Emma pushed forward. "Okay, so what do you think of she who calls herself the Blue Fairy?'

Sophia gave a grim smile. "She has limited compassion and is all vision and no wisdom. She is our leader merely because no one has dared to make the kind of decisions of the magnitude that the present requires."  
Emma nodded in understanding. "But is she trustworthy? Is she a good heart?"  
Sophia met her eyes again and seem to search them for some hidden question. "Yes and yes. But you would make a better Blue Fairy than she would."  
Emma shook her head no fiercely.  
Nova smiled at her. "And that right there is why. Because you don't want it."  
Emma's phone in her jacket beeped. She pulled it out. It was from August.  
_You need to come back now!_  
"Sorry to cut this short, but it sounds like something is really wrong back at the diner." Emma anxiously cut off whatever Daisy was about to say.  
Emma turned and ran back towards town. Grumpy yelling for her to slow down for the old man.

Daisy looked frustrated. "I hope you are right, Sophia. I feel that her level of magic, now that she has a dozen or so fairies' magic, is way too strong. She needs to join."  
Sophia shook her head. "There is enough fear in her. Her heart will not be so easily overtaken."  
Nova sighed. "Yes, but with Cora, a strong heart is not enough. A heart does no good in a box."  
Sophia just smiled and skipped another rock.


	42. The White and the Black

***  
Emma rushed into the town square, Grumpy panting behind her. Whatever had occurred before they had gotten there was epic. August was standing behind Henry off to the side, arms wrapped around him. Her father was lying on the ground, eyes stunned and faraway, but not dead. Snow or rather Dark Snow as it appeared to be again this morning was standing to the side of his prone figure. Regina was standing opposite Snow and in her left hand was a heart.  
"I know you are in there still Snow White. You and I are going to have a chat, if I have to squeeze it out of you." Regina growled, testing the heart. James flinched slightly.  
A timid voice came out of the once again, flashy dressed Snow. "You wouldn't dare. Why would you do this to me?"  
Regina seemed pissed that Snow didn't seem to get it. "You screwed my life over. Then you gave me the beast."  
Snow didn't deny this, she looked up sadly. "But he doesn't deserve this. Why would you do this to him?"  
Regina snorted. "He is screwed every which way. He stays to endure a lifetime of abuse, for a few fleeting moments of peace with you, he leaves and hates himself, he suffers enough trying to rescue you that he breaks and joins you. Your love for each other, will destroy him, no matter the path."  
Snow's face hardened and her jaw set. But her eyes were still her own. "Perhaps your mother thought the same thing, when she squeezed your stable boy's heart."  
Regina was so shocked that she was frozen, unable to formulate words for a moment. Everyone present seemed to be frozen with her, holding their breathes.

Regina's eyes suddenly blazed. She grabbed Snow with magic around the throat. "Take it back."  
Snow seemed unharmed even though she was in a chokehold, her voice unaffected. Dark Snow came back. "You can't harm me." It hissed.  
Regina's eyes turned into slits. "I don't have to harm you, to destroy you."  
And she squeezed.  
The heart in her hand dissolved away into fine dust that sank to the ground and blew away.  
James/David/Charming, siezed in fits, clenched his jaw, screamed and quickly fell silent.

However, the screaming continued as Henry's voice rang out. It was primal screaming and Emma felt it rip through her frozen mind and into her heart, tearing at it.  
Snow dropped to the ground, sobbing and placed her head on his chest. She just laid there on a place with obviously no heart beat as though she was taking permanent residence there.

Regina was a raging boiling vat of emotions, but Emma was unable to read any of them clearly.  
Emma felt hatred rising up. She couldn't kill Regina, Rumpelstiltskin had made that clear, but she certainly wished to hurt her. And that was not part of the deal.

Emma ran forward and took a swing at Regina. She barely made contact before Regina shifted forms, sinking to the ground as a rat.  
Emma recovered and tried to envision the only form she knew, a swan. But pain racked her body and she dropped to the ground. Regina assumed her usual form. She looked ready to attack.  
"Stop it." Henry screamed.

Regina eyes met his. Tears were streaming down his face and August was holding him tightly, keeping him at a distance.  
"I'm sorry, Henry." Regina's voice wavered. "I tried, I really did. But I can't be more then I am. You were right, I am the Evil Queen. I only ask that you don't hate me. Don't let the beast in. It tells beautiful lies to wiggle its way in. It nevers leaves and it always wins."  
Henry wouldn't meet her eyes, staring at the ground and his shoes as though it was keeping him alive.  
Regina sighed. She turned around and kicked Emma's prone, moaning figure gently. "Don't try and transform into your soul creature when your loyalties are divided. It never works well."  
With that, Regina picked up the box on the ground. Henry's trick box from the picture in the Storybook. Then she disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

Emma laid on the ground, mostly human looking, lying in a bed of black and white swan feathers. Everything hurt. Her brain, her shoulders, her stomach and her heart. The later most of all.  
A small voice was heard in her mind. "You poor dear, always getting the raw end of the deal. That's what happens when you don't choose a side. Let me help you."  
Emma's mouth became dry and she began shaking. This was the beast. She was sure of it.  
"Go away." She commanded. "I denounce you."  
"You invited me in. I am only here to help you." the voice continued sweetly.  
"Leave me alone. You have no power over me." Emma screamed this time, her voice raw and her body pounding. It was clear that everyone could hear her now, because she could hear footsteps approaching.  
"Not yet." The voice leered. "But now I found an opening."  
Emma sobbed. She could feel Grumpy's strong comforting hands pick her up. She opened her eyes a bit and saw the white feathers, with a few black mixed in.  
"Don't worry about it. Strength through suffering. Remember." Grumpy brushed her hair out of her face and cleared some of the feathers away.  
Emma saw her mother approaching, her eyes and face red with crying.  
"Let her help you, give her purpose." Grumpy whispered. "Let her love you."  
Emma closed her eyes and felt the smooth small hands of her mother brushing her cheek.  
"My beautiful baby girl. I'm so sorry."  
A sharp pain flashed through her and images of Snow holding a baby wrapped in Emma's blanket, flashed through her mind. And then James taking her into his arms, announcing the curse was here. Then Snow sobbing all alone in her big bed, still covered in blood as the curse blew over. Then a pajama clothed Mary Margaret with incredibly short hair slept in her apartment and hit the snooze button on her very loud school alarm clock. "Why can't it be Monday already?" Mary Margaret moaned. She hated weekends, because something felt missing. There were no small faces to greet her in the morning.  
The images faded as Snow took her hand away. The pain stopped. Emma's eyes fluttered open, but she was weak and her consciousness drifted away.

***  
Because I am not inhumane and cruel, here is the next snipet. :)

Regina magically appeared at the end of the boat docks. She walked onto the nearest boat and down into the hull. On a bed attached to the wall of the ship was Abigail. She was wrapped up in blankets, covered in sweat and pale looking. She opened her eyes at Regina's arrival, but she didn't speak. Frederick who was sitting on the cot bed opposite her, stood and muttered a weak greeting.  
"She's alive, but very weak." He offered. "It took a lot out of her."  
Regina nodded. She tried to push back the raging tide in her mind and glanced over at Abigail again.  
"That was a pretty big risk you took. Offering your heart as a cover." She remarked. It was foolhardy at best, suicidal at worst. No one knew exactly what would happen, but Abigail appeared to be recovering. The benefit of having been born with two hearts, Regina supposed. Probably the only benefit, since the first one had to be removed in infancy, so she could stay alive. Probably the only good thing that her mother did with that particular power.  
"Did it work?" Abigail asked weakly.  
Regina shrugged. "As well as it could have."  
She put the trick box on the table nearby. "Here. You keep his heart safe. I might actually squeeze it next time. I don't trust myself."  
Abigail raised an eyebrow and scanned Regina silently. "What did it say?"  
Regina shook her head. "The beast is pleasantly silent right now. I think it is...preoccupied...too occupied to notice anything for the moment. And if it did, then it probably wouldn't care, as long as its foothold in Snow grew bigger."  
Abigail tried to sit up, but Frederick pushed her back down.  
"What did She say then?" Abigail asked annoyed at being babied. Regina had once, very long ago, been a friend, and she was suffering.  
Regina froze. She was trying to block out the last 10 minutes. And here Abigail was trying to dig it all back up.  
"Nothing that wasn't true." Regina admitted while still being deflective.  
She turned and started to walk away, out of the boat.  
"Really? You are going to walk away, after what she just did for you?" Frederick yelled at Regina.  
"Shut up!" Abigail yelled at him. "I love you, but shut up."  
"Regina?" She asked softly. "You did good, you know? For the first time in a long time. Think on that instead."  
Regina closed her eyes, glad she was facing away from them. "Sure." She replied harshly. "Whatever."  
She walked off the boat and back onto the docks. She pulled out her cellphone and texted Henry.

_Aladdin._  
No response.  
Regina waited for several minutes.  
Just answer. Just hear me out, she thought.  
Still nothing.  
_Please._  
I can explain, Regina thought, just let me in.  
Beep.  
_Leave me alone. I hate you. _  
Henry had called her an evil queen, claimed she didn't love him, even chose a woman he knew for a week over her. But he had never claimed to hate her.  
Regina closed her eyes and flung her cellphone against the docks, shattering it.  
Now she really did have nothing.  
Then she magically appeared in front of the Sisters of the Poor grounds.  
Her mother was sitting on a bench, close to the small pond.  
"Are we done screwing around?" She asked tossing bread to the ducks.  
Regina sat down beside her. "Yes."  
It was predicted she would destroy the whole world and that had happened already. Who was she to think she could be anything else?  
***


	43. One song, I have, but one song

Imaginary points for whoever gets the name and/or artist of this song. :) Without using a search engine.

***  
Henry had pitched a fit, August dragging him into the library, until he had worn himself out and had fallen asleep on one of the couches.  
His dreams had been frightening and he tossed and turned for hours. Dreams with vague shadowy men who told him he was better off dead. Dreams with Cora handing him an apple. Dreams with Emma, his mother, dressed in regal dress and crown, lying in a pool of blood and then in a glass coffin. Dreams of Regina begging at the feet of the Blue Fairy, asking her to just kill her and put everyone out of her misery.  
This last one seemed the most lifelike to Henry considering the previous events and it shook him awake. He was covered in August's leather jacket and he was covered in sweat. Henry surveyed the room. August had found a dusty very old looking piano and he was testing each one of the keys very quietly. Snow White was sitting in an armchair, her hands in her lap, looking pale and drawn. Henry slowly sat up. Emma was lying on a couch opposite of his, asleep, but worn looking. A few feathers still lay on the ground under the couch.  
August sat down and started fooling around on the piano. He seemed to be searching for a particular pattern, playing the first part over and over until he settled on the last chord.  
Suddenly he started playing the song and Snow looked up.  
August started singing softly along with the song, but his voice was terribly off key and he growled and sunk back into silence, just playing the repetitive pattern over and over again.

Henry was about to ask what the song was, when he heard singing. Snow was softly singing the words from her armchair.  
_When you try your best, but you don't succeed. _  
_When you get what you want, but not what you need._  
Snow's voice grew in intensity as August reached the chorus.  
_Lights will guide, you home. And ignite your bones. _  
_And I will try..._  
_to Fix You..._  
Suddenly, the singing stopped. "I don't know the third verse." Snow apologized.  
August kept solidly playing along. "That's fine, just come back in at the chorus."

When August reached the end of the song, Snow sighed. "This was my mother's piano. She was apparently very good, according to my father. I never could get the hang of it. But I used to sing for my father all the time. And with Charming. He was a very good singer."  
There was an awkward silence, where Snow was obviously hurting. So Henry announced that he was listening by immediately filling in the silence.  
"What else do you know?" Henry inquired.  
August shook his head. "That's it. My one song."  
Henry approached the piano wearing August's jacket.  
August scooted over. "Do you know how to play Henry?"  
Henry frowned. "Nope. Never had an interest before."  
"Here I'll show you. You are going to be the left hand, which is really easy and I'll be the right hand."  
Slowly and patiently, August instructed Henry. Henry seemed to pick it up easily and he was pleasantly surprised.  
"Okay, let's do it."  
Snow obligingly began to sing again. This time...  
_...When you lose something you can't replace._  
_When you love someone, but it goes to waste_  
_Could it be worse?..._  
But the loving scene before her, combined with the words and the raw grief still clawing at her, caused her to choke up before the chorus. So that there really were tears streaming down her face, instead of her singing the same words.  
"I'm sorry." Snow apologized, wiping the tears away. "It is just hitting too close to home today."  
August flashed her a somber smile, but encouraged Henry to keep playing.  
The moment they hit the unknown third verse, there was singing again.  
It was a lower, throatier sound as opposed to Snow's soft crystal bell-like tones.  
_...When you're too in love to let it show._  
_But if you never try, you'll you never know_  
_Just what you're worth..._  
Emma looked down when everyone's gaze turned to her. "That's the third verse." She shrugged it off as though this was nothing, but a fact.  
She had been awake with her eyes closed since August had first started playing, but she had been deep in thought. She too had, had strange dreams. But they felt more like a guide and a warning, rather than plaguing fears.  
She stood up quickly, shrugging off the blanket.  
"I have something that I have to do." Emma proclaimed. Cora figured she would know Emma's next move. But Emma had felt the beast and she knew that Grumpy's strong hands and her mother's memories had been what had saved her for now.  
Her father was right. No one could do it alone.

Her mother looked ready to protest, but Henry grabbed her hand. August however, was not that easily stopped.  
He stood up from the piano and looked to block her way out of the room. "And what could be so important so as to leave right now? You passed out not two hours ago, you need to rest."  
He was obviously frustrated with her and the heat and fire in his eyes was distracting.

Emma snorted. "It doesn't matter what I am going to do. I need you here."  
August blocked her exit with his arms. "How am I supposed to help you, Emma? If you never tell me anything?"  
Emma closed her eyes and sighed. He was right, she never confided. "I am going to see Cora."  
Snow gasped silently.  
August shook his head. "That is not wise, I'm sure. You are going to get yourself killed or worse."  
Emma nodded to show she had heard. "I don't need your approval, I need your support. I need you to protect, no, defend my family. My son, my mother."  
Snow trembled behind her, hearing her call her mother.  
"I can't lose anyone else, you see. The best way to keep me safe is to ensure that what I depend on, is there when I need them. And I am entrusting them to you." Emma countered. She gave him a fiery look to show she meant it.  
She was entrusting him with her family. Her support. She was renewing his task, giving him purpose. August softened his look. "You are incredible. 6 months I've been here, and you are a completely different person then one I first met. Like seeds waiting for rain, to bloom. And I can't take credit for any of it." There was a gentle smile and a loving look in his eyes.  
Before either Emma or August had registered anything, Emma was kissing him.

Emma would have liked to say that there were fireworks, but there were not. But then only Henry's father had managed to evoke that sense of feeling from her before.  
But Emma would have described it as being wrapped in a blanket. One that smelled of leather and motor oil and pine. Comfortable, safe, and yet thrilling like the prospect of the open road.

Emma broke off first. August's gaze was out of focus. He was still spinning it seemed. Emma smiled at the thought, knowing how much power she held over him. "Now, I know what that feels like. Just in case." She whispered.  
That brought August back to earth. "Wait, what?"  
But Emma had already brushed past him.  
"Stay safe, you hear." She whispered.  
August swallowed and gave a grim smile. "You too."

When she had left their sight, August sighed. He turned to Henry, who was beaming.  
"Chicks dig a guy who can make music." August grinned, being purposefully more macho then he felt.  
Snow gave a light chuckle. Henry rolled his eyes, but sat down at the piano with him again, that way he could learn the right hand of August's one song. Which was definitely not what caused his mother to take a chance. But of course it hadn't hurt either.


	44. Red Queen, White Queen

I apologise for such a long hiatus. But here are two new chapters. These two should stir up a buzz, I hope. :)

Emma almost tripped over Grace in her haste to leave the library and accomplish her risky mission. "Oh, sorry."

Grace smiled. "You are feeling better I see." Her eyes were sad, however.

"Why are you out here alone?" Emma mused out loud. Grace was holding the diary. Maggie's diary.

Grace shrugged. " I needed to think." She seemed so serious, so young. Something big had changed the moment her memories came took a deep breath. Perhaps a small detour.

"About what?" Emma asked. "What could Maggie possibly teach you?"

Grace gave a small chuckle. "More curious about how much of what I taught her, she retained." She gave a half grin at this.

Emma was confused. "Huh?" Grace handed her the diary. "Have you ever read Harry Potter?"

Emma frowned. "Yes..."

"The third one?"

Emma nodded. "All of them." She sheepishly smiled. "I kind of devoured them."

"Me too." Grace laughed. "Okay. Then you will understand. I think." Emma read the paragraph on the last page that Grace had been reading.

_My baby is coming. These will be my last words. I want to thank my mother, Grace, nosy as she may be, who will read this, I know, even after I am dead. _

_Thank you for packing more food then I could eat, to teach me to feed others, even Cora. Thank you for fighting with father about the stupid little things, to show me love is never easy._

_And thank you for telling me last night about Emma, my granddaughter. The knowledge of her existence will carry me through these dark last few hours. _

_Thank you for loving me, especially knowing all the mistakes that I would make, before I made thank you for never stopping me from making those mistakes, for then I learned the hardest part of loving is setting someone free, even to fall. But to love them just the same. True love. Two idiots who see each others faults and love each other, just the same. _

Emma closed the book,and swallowed hard, her mind wrapping itself around this strange twist. "You are my...great grandmother? Is that what you think this means?"

Grace nodded, "I know so already. This is just further proof."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "This is what your father and you were fighting about, isn't it? Your father doesn't want you to go back."

Grace shook her head. "He thinks that I have a choice."

Emma frowned. "Everyone has a choice."

Grace shrugged. "And I choose love, not cowardice. And so therefore I have no choice, but to do as I have already done, you see. My father has given up. He thinks not going back, will just undo everything. But it can't. Harry Potter, knew he could save himself when he went back in time, because he already had. He wouldn't have been around in the future, to save himself, if he hadn't already done so."

Emma gave a soft chuckle that grew into a strange laugh. Yet another dimension of insane. A predetermined future. Grace laughed along with her.

Grace sobered. "And when I leave, this knowledge will sustain me through the hard times. It will serve as proof that I have the strength, that I have already loved so intensely, that you exist. And you because you exist here, so do I, giving me the ability to go back in the first place."

Emma stood with a smile. "And I see why Henry has a crush on you. You and he speak the same language."

Grace smiled and blushed. "Well I an his great, great grandmother."

She flipped through the pages. "I just wish that the diary gave some sort of indication as to whether my father came back with me. I really don't want to do this alone." Emma mused on something for a second. "Was your mother's name Alice?"

Grace smiled. "Yes. I barely remember her, but she was tall and blond and beautiful, like you. Like my daughter will be. My father gave up hat tricks, because of something that happened to her. Or at least he did, until he met Regina."

Emma gave her a sad smile. "Well, the poise and grace, did not skip a generation, I assure you." She knew how girls her age worried about that sort of thing. Becoming a beautiful woman, instead of an awkward adolescent. "And Regina has that kind of power over most people, I fear."

Grace frowned. "Unfortunately, that too did not skip any generations."

At first Emma, though that her pre-teen great grandmother was making a comment about her own manipulation of men, but before she got defensive, she stopped.

"It's not what your given, it's what you do with it." Emma mused outloud. Nina again. She really needed to locate her again one of these days and tell her in not so detailed words, how much she changed her life. If she managed to live through all this.

Grace blinked. She began flipping pages.

Emma knew she must have said something, that was a direct quote. That Emma's words had already influenced the past, which had written the future...But her thoughts were elsewhere. She knew what to do with Cora. Something that Cora, would never suspect. Because it gave Emma no advantage what-so-ever. Perhaps it was even a disadvantage. But perhaps that would be enough to throw everyone off.

Perhaps it was worth the risk. Perhaps everything was worth the risk.

"I'm going to talk with Cora. I think you've given me an idea." Emma mused.

Grace handed her the book. "Take it. Cora deserves to know some of the things written in here. If she ever intends to really make something worthwhile with her life." Emma accepted it. A game piece. A token. A message. Red Queen and White Queen. Cora and Maggie. Alice and Wonderland.

"Tell your father, that it isn't frightening. Not for you, apparently and not for me. At least not now." Emma mused out loud. "Knowing your path is already set, isn't frightening, if you know you are the one who set it. Even if you don't know what it is yet." If you finally believed you were a good person and you would do that right thing, your options were endless still, but the fear of failing was missing. And Emma was finally beginning to see that the good in her, came from so many places.

Emma knew as she headed off, that she was walking towards the possible End of Everything, but she couldn't help, but smile. Her story was already written. And now she was writing it.


	45. Through the mirror down the rabbit hole

***  
Emma Swan approached the Sisters of the Poor just as the sun was beginning to set. She calmed herself before trying to transform again. The pain was much less than before, as she molded into a swan. She took off, trying to think about mechanics of flying. After several attempts, she managed to enter the nunnery through an open second story window.

Flying past many empty beds, she entered the second hall and down to the chapel. The only place she had been before. It was empty, the pews deserted and the lights off. The familiar, bloody crucifix hung from the wall. But it seemed to be behind a shimmer of magic. Someone had protected from being destroyed.  
Emma landed on the frontmost pew. Suddenly a fairy shimmered beside her. It was the Blue Fairy. She looked drawn and very ill.  
"Why are you here, Emma Swan?" She weakly asked, trying to appear strong, by lifting her chin and stretching her angel wings back.  
Emma transformed back into her normal form, this time thinking of wearing clothes. She looked down, a long lavender princess dress gracing her form and her familiar leather jacket on her shoulders. She gave a soft laugh at her joke.  
"I'm here to do what should have been done ages ago." Emma responded giving her a hard look.  
The Blue Fairy gave Emma a confused look. But she didn't get to ask what that was, before someone else came into the chapel. It was Cora and then Regina.  
Emma stood and pulled a feather from hair. She twirled it around in her fingers. "Good Evening."  
Cora seemed confused by her calm. She briefly glanced at Regina and the Blue Fairy as though they might reveal the answer. Hadn't she just lost a father?  
"Good Evening. What do we owe the pleasure of your company?" Cora returned calmly. Once again she was painfully reminded of her darkness, as though she was looking in a mirror. Emma was calm like a glass lake. But underneath was obvious pain. And yet something else too.

Emma gave a closed broad smile. "I wish to make a deal."

Cora frowned. "That is Rumplestiltskin's gig, not mine."  
Emma shook her head. "You've done it before. When it was someone you cared about." She flashed a cryptic smile.  
Regina shivered beside her mother. Emma was finally taking control of the game. And she was afraid. This could be good or very bad. And Emma and her family had just taken a big blow. Thinking that James was dead.  
Cora played along. "Okay, I'll bite, what are looking for, my dear? I can at least hear out your request...for family's sake."  
Emma squared her shoulders. "I wish to speak with Margaret, Maggie, whatever."  
Cora shook her head. "How do you propose to do that?"  
Emma met her eyes and held her gaze. "That is not your concern. I just request to be able to hold her heart in my hand."  
Cora's eyes narrowed. "And why would I allow this? And what would I get from this?"  
Emma sighed. "I know you keep a large collection of hearts. As does Regina. My offer is this. As long a time as I have Maggie's heart, Regina keeps mine for the same amount of time afterwards."  
Regina paled.  
Cora raised an eyebrow and glanced back at Regina. She seemed to study her, searching to see if Regina was in on this, but Regina's shock seemed to suggest otherwise.  
The Blue Fairy tried to say something, but Cora shut her up quickly with force. "Leave us."  
The Blue Fairy looked even paler and did not try to resist leaving the room.

Cora walked towards Emma and reached out to play with her long golden waves. Emma closed her eyes, but did not flinch.  
When she opened her eyes, Cora was smiling. "I trust that you will not harm your grandmother's heart. Besides I'm sure that you can think of plenty of awful things that I could do the rest of your family, if you tried anything."  
Emma nodded eerily. "There are worse things than death."  
Cora smiled in agreement. "Okay, I agree to your terms. On the condition that I stay right here to watch at all times, until I get the heart back. A safety precaution, you understand, right? "

Emma pondered this for a moment. " Make it Regina instead and we have an agreement."

Cora hesitated, but accepted. "Agreed."  
Cora held her palm out and a box appeared. She opened it and trembling picked up the heart and held it out to Emma.  
Emma accepted it tenderly. A rush of wild emotions hit her and she had to blink to clear her mind.  
She met Cora's gaze and Cora sighed and magically disappeared.  
When there was silence again, Regina turned to Emma. "What the hell are you doing?"  
Emma just smiled. She gestured with her other hand and a mirror appeared in front of her, the magic hiding it missing.  
She had gone to see Sophia before this and Emma silently thanked Sophia for telling her where the mirror she had created was. Right in front of everyone's faces, during every prayer. Hidden from sight.  
It was a mirror Regina recognized. The mirror where she had once seen Margaret White before, in the mirror that saw into people's hearts.

Standing in the mirror were three women. Or rather two girls and a young woman. Regina's form was about 12 or so and pale, with dark circles under her eyes. Her hair falling out of a braid and her dress dirty and ripped at the bottom. She appeared confused and intrigued at the same time. Emma's form was young too, about 15 or so, her long blond hair had streaks of red in it, just like Red's hair. Her face was heavily made up and her jeans had holes in the knees. She was standing there resolved and eerily calm. Margaret White stood between them, dressed in a similar dress to Emma's current attire, but in a kelly green color with a crown on her head. Her face was drawn and she looked depressed.

Regina tore her gaze away from her reflection, which she briefly reflected was older then the last time she had stood before the mirror, and turned her thoughts back to Emma.  
"You fool! You do realise that the moment I take your heart when this is through, that the Beast can just walk right into your body."

Emma gave a deep sigh. "I'd have to let him in. If that happens, which I don't think it will, then I'm giving you, Regina Mills, permission to kill me on the spot."  
Regina was about to challenge this, but then she frowned. "Rumplestiltskin told you didn't he? He told you what would happen if you died."  
Emma met her eyes. There were fierce and full of a fire that Regina recognised. She had seen it in her own reflection before. "Yes."

"It might not help. You might not make it to the tree next time. Or maybe Pinocchio doesn't come with you, or maybe you never have Henry." Regina listed off all the reasons that Emma was being stupid. Gambling with her own life, at the highest stakes possible. Everyone else's lives.

Emma nodded. "I hope it doesn't come to that. But I can't ask people to stand beside me, if I am not willing to play alongside them."

Regina had all, but given up. And suddenly, she felt a spark of hope. A small painful flame. Stupid Snow, stupid Emma, she just wanted to finally be free, even if she too had to throw herself from a castle wall as well. Her image in the mirror however, smiled back at her, eyes shining with promise.  
"Okay, it's your life you are playing with." Regina conceded. "The book calls you saviour. Let's see if the shoe fits."  
Emma nodded firmly and looked back into the mirror and at Maggie. Maggie gave a bright smile and a tender look.  
Emma took a deep breath. "Okay, I am here for two things. One, I have a question."  
Maggie nodded.  
"How do I get rid of magic from Storybrooke?" Emma asked.  
Regina blinked. Why would Emma ask that?  
Maggie sighed. "The person who you'd have to ask is Henry."  
Emma frowned. "My son?"  
Maggie shook her head.  
Emma's eyes widened. The other Henry. Regina's father. Why would he know? And wasn't he dead?  
"How? How could I ask him?" Emma inquired, "Isn't he dead?"  
Maggie smiled. "Sort of. But I'm sure you'll think of something. You're smart and strong."  
Emma glanced at Regina. She had stiffened like a board, protecting herself emotionally. Emma looked away, quickly, trying to stay focused.

Emma looked at the heart in her hand. Then she looked back up at the woman in the mirror.  
"When I go to give your heart back, I'm sure that you know what she will do. I know that she won't play fair. She has a plan. She agreed way too easy to this deal for my liking."  
Maggie nodded. "I'm sorry that you had the unfortunate luck to look so much like me. It has been to your advantage up until this point. But not from here on out."

Emma nodded in grim understanding.  
Regina blinked. Then it hit her. Oh, God.  
"Guess if I fail, you won't have to worry about the Beast taking over." Emma sighed.  
Emma looked at Maggie's reflection again. "Do I have your permission?"  
Maggie nodded. "I think it best this way. Work out our mess together, without causing all the additional grief for everyone else."  
Emma shook her head in understanding. "If not, then may the two of us be thrown into the depths of the mines burning in the fires that fuel the earth."  
"For that will be all that we can offer the world." Maggie echoed.  
"You never meant Snow and you." Emma confirmed.  
There was a gentle silence that fell between them.

"You did love her, in some way, didn't you?" Emma softly inquired.

Maggie sighed. She turned to Regina. "I'm the damn Evil Queen. Not you. I should have never made that deal with Cora. I should have never tried to take you away from her, especially as it turns out, after she had already almost lost you. And I'm prepared to go down in flames for my selfishness and my foolishness."

She took a deep breath. "And yes, I lied, when I told her I felt nothing. I was afraid. Even before Cora gained her magic, she was powerful. She looked into a person's eyes and they forgot what they were doing. She loved me so intensely, that I knew it long before she tried to kiss me. But I didn't...I couldn't..." Maggie's image gasped softly trying to compose herself. She closed her eyes. "It was too much. I felt suffocated. I needed Leo. Someone who loved me gently and tenderly. Who waited for me to love them patiently."

Maggie gave a sad smile, obviously thinking on her life with King Leopold with tenderness.

"Snow on the other hand, wanted, no, needed that deep burning flame of love. A man gentle and patient, yet passionate and intense. I suppose that was because she was also just like you, Regina."

Maggie's image kissed the forehead of Regina's little girl form in the mirror. Regina could almost feel it. She frowned. "All that passion and drive. She gets that from you, my dear. Not me."

"And as long as you love someone, Regina, you will always be free. The beast will never truly own you." Maggie smiled. "And Emma might not have believed you when you said you loved Henry. But I did. That is why, Mary Margaret; Snow and I never really interfered."  
Regina looked away, unable to look at Maggie. It was hard enough hating Snow, she couldn't manage to hate anyone else right now. She didn't have the strength.  
"And luckily for you, Henry isn't the only thing you love."  
Regina frowned, but did not ask what she meant.

"Thank you, Emma."  
And with a last passing glance at Emma, Maggie's image disappeared from the mirror.

Emma called for Cora, knowing she would hear her, even from afar. Cora magically appeared. "Well, are you finished?" She inquired impatiently. She looked at her watch. "My time shows, 29 minutes."  
Emma nodded. " I heard exactly what I needed to hear, perhaps even more then I had hoped for."  
She glanced at Regina briefly, but Regina seemed deep in thought.  
Cora smiled, but it was not a kind smile. "I'm glad."  
She did not bring back the box. She merely held out her hand for the heart.  
Emma took a deep breath, it was here that the tides would shift in her favor or not. She gently handed Cora the heart. Cora held it for awhile in silence.  
"Well, aren't you going to take your end of the bargain?" She hissed dangerously at Regina.  
Regina came back to focus at this. She closed her eyes briefly and met Emma's gaze.  
This was not going to work. She could feel it.  
The beast was clamouring in her chest. She could try and ignore it, but what it wanted was exactly what everyone in the room was waiting for.  
Regina put on a stoic face and then wickedly smiled for effect.  
She walked straight up in front of Emma and placed her hand upon her chest. She could feel Emma's heart racing beneath her fingers. She met Emma's gaze briefly. Emma's eyes were frightened, the usual harsh shield missing. Emma closed her eyes and her chin was trembling slightly.  
The beast was trembling too, but with excitement.  
Regina felt the magic sparkling in her hands and with one swift motion, she ripped out Emma's beating heart from her chest.  
Emma gasped and her eyes flew open. Her eyes were pained and panicked.  
But then they settled. A cold, emptiness settled in.

"That was interesting." Emma remarked without feeling. "29 minutes, Cora."

Cora grinned. "Too bad I don't play fair. You said as long as you had Maggie's heart, my daughter would get to keep yours. Funny, you'll be keeping it for much longer than 29 minutes."  
With one swift motion, she lunged at Emma, Maggie's heart still in hand.  
Regina's brain was still coming down from the excitement of the magic used to pull out Emma's heart, which was still beating furiously in her hand. But she suddenly understood.  
Emma looked a lot like Maggie. And now she was pretty much going to be Maggie.

Regina did the first thing that came to mind. A mirror materialised between the two of them, Cora hitting it hard face first. The distance between them was so thin, that Regina almost thought she hadn't got there in time. Emma snapped into action, grabbing the heart as it fell from Cora's hand.  
While Cora was still stunned slightly, Regina removed the mirror. Emma instantly grinned and with one swift motion, she was no longer holding the heart as it and her hand passed into Cora's chest.  
Emma's eyes widened and she quickly withdrew her hand. She shuddered and then became stern and still.  
Cora dropped to the ground, her hands grabbing the carpeted chapel floor like it was a lifeline. She was breathing heavy and her hair fell out of its tidy bun.

Regina stood there floored, a raging heart in one hand and her own beating just as fast in her own chest. And her mother now had two as well.  
Her mother began to sob, for the first time in Regina's memory. She tightened her grip on the carpet and her forehead reached the floor. She was softly rocking in place, as though the whole world had fallen out from under her feet and she was doing everything in her power to keep it together.

Emma flung a book at Cora and turned to walk away. "Wait." Regina questioned.  
"29 minutes, Regina." Was her reply and she magically disappeared.

Regina swore. The heart in her hand, made her feel afraid. She was starting to sweat from feeling its sheer anxiety. Emma didn't think she was coming back in 29 minutes and Regina didn't either.  
Regina swore again. The beast laughed. The foundations of Storybrooke began to shake, like they had when Emma had first come to stay. But this time it seemed more ominous. The beast in the mines, was awake again, but this time it appeared to be winning.  
Regina felt torn from staying and watching to see what would happen to her mother and following after Emma, heart in hand.  
Maggie seemed to think that there was a way to talk to her father. How she desperately wished that she could talk to him again. So Regina turned her eyes heavenward. "If you can hear me, I need your help, Daddy." She whispered, calling on him for the first time, since she had gotten to Storybrooke.  
Jefferson suddenly appeared, popping out of a portal created by his hat. He looked older then Regina figured that he ought to, but Regina didn't inquire. It was still help.  
He looked from Regina holding a heart, to Cora on the floor, still quietly sobbing. He frowned in confusion.  
"Jefferson. Help me." Regina demanded.  
He raised an eyebrow. "With what?"  
Regina held out a hand, the one with the heart. "This is Emma's. And she is wandering around without it right now."  
"Okay." Jefferson sighed, not even bothering to ask how that had happened. He stood there trying to rack his brains for an idea. He pulled Regina into the hallway, to get away from Cora. "Okay, what the hell is going on?"  
Into the hall, walked several fairies and in through the front door strode Rumplestiltskin.  
Rumplestiltskin took one look from Regina's panicked face to the heart. Then he bowed. "How may I assist thee?"  
Regina turned in shock at the growing number of people who were arriving. Like they had been called.  
"You only needed to ask," one of the fairies added as though this was common knowledge.  
Regina closed her eyes. Her father had heard her.  
And he must still love her, despite everything.  
Even now.  
Or he wouldn't be helping her.

Something hit Regina like a train. She felt blind-sided and stunned. Regina tried to formulate words.

"Emma is running around without her heart, Henry hates me, Snow thinks Prince James is dead and that I killed him. My mother is... I don't know what.. on the floor in the chapel." Regina paused catching her breath. "And I think I love Snow White." It was why she continued to torment her, swore she would kill her, and yet continued to rescue her occasionally, despite the hatred.  
And Regina had said it out loud. She loved Snow White. Not the stupid crush gone twisted and wrong, like Cora and Maggie, not like the romance of Snow and James, not like Emma and Henry, mother and son. She couldn't figure it out. But it was true all the same. Snow had been able to destroy her life, because she had cared about her. She would have had no other power over Regina otherwise.

Emma's heart in her hand began to slow its racing pulse, and Regina felt a sense of calm. _Of course you do, you moron._ Emma's voice seem to come from the heart, echoing in her head. Regina paled. _Like a stupid little annoying sister._Regina closed her eyes and tried to pull herself together.

Jefferson sighed and took the heart from Regina's hand. Regina still felt that strong pull of affection for Snow that she had before, so it couldn't have been just because she was holding Emma's heart.  
"Oh, God. Fairies. Shit. Hell." Regina shouted a string of curses. Her whole world was falling out beneath her. She bent slightly forward and held her hands to her head. She couldn't love her. She hated her, she had wanted her dead...but that was because she had once believed that was the only way to save her.

Jefferson smiled. "About time." He put his hand on her shoulder. He couldn't be pissed at her right now, for everything, it was just so incredible.

"No two loves are alike." Rumplestiltskin cackled.  
Then he waved his arms about. "Let's go, you pathetic lot, we have a whole world to save."


	46. The Heart of Storybrooke

***  
Emma took her boots off and cooled her feet in the creek under the bridge. Apparently, one didn't need a heart to feel the cool water soothing her feet. It was finally beginning to feel like summer and Emma could still feel the heat.  
It wasn't long before Sophia appeared, just as Emma had anticipated.  
She sat down next to Emma and took her shoes off as well.  
Emma mused on the fact that Sophia's calm and silence, was still unnerving just as it was before. Like nothing had changed.

In fact, it almost seemed like nothing had. There was only one thing that Emma had noticed.  
The water felt cool and refreshing on her feet, but there was no content, no joy. Sure, she was glad that her feet were cool and convinced that it had been worth her while to take off her boots.  
But there was no...passion. No life in her thoughts. Cold, placid, and logical. She knew this, she could measure this difference.  
She wondered during Sophia's silence whether this was what Graham had felt like all the time. Like everything was sterile, logical and passionless. It made her smug to think that all that sex with Regina that he had, that had once irritated her, had been nothing, but the feeling of dipping one's feet in a stream.  
Emma's smile, brought Sophia to speak. "What are you thinking?"  
Emma shook her head. "Nothing helpful to my task." She tried to displace her smug smile from her face.

Sophia nodded. The sun was setting and the woods were getting dark. She pulled out a lantern and lit it.  
Right, she had 29 minutes. Emma directed to task. "Henry is dead, your Henry. But yet I know for a fact that you can speak with him."  
Sophia raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"  
Emma snorted. "Stop stalling and help me here."  
Sophia sighed. "Yes, you are correct. I can talk to him. But that is not the same as him talking to me."  
Emma nodded. "But you could, if you wanted."  
Sophia closed her eyes. "It's dangerous."  
Emma smiled. "Not a problem, I'm currently not afraid."  
Sophia grabbed Emma's arm tightly. "That is exactly why it is dangerous."

Emma felt her push past her memories again, quickly this time. The familiar emptiness was there, behind it, but something was missing. Emma felt nothing. She had described the feeling earlier as like Henry's hug. But this time the dark was just that, dark. Nothing. Emma tried to imagine what she had felt earlier, but without success.  
She couldn't remember what Henry's hug had felt like. It hadn't been something that she could put into words and so she had lost it.  
A sense of longing like she hadn't felt in years, came over her. Longing for something you didn't remember. Like one's parents.  
Emma opened her eyes, trying to brush away a twinge of pain that she had felt.  
Sophia was smiling. "Thank the name of all that is good. Lost, but still able to be found." She gripped Emma's arm tighter and met her gaze fiercely. "Don't you ever forget what it feels like to want to feel. Don't you ever forget what you lost. Or neither Henry will be able to help you."  
Emma nodded quickly.  
Sophia took a deep breath and let go of her arm. "For that reason, you must take him with you. You are likely going to need a physical reminder of what you have lost."  
"Take who?" Emma asked.

Sophia gestured towards the toll bridge above them. Another lantern turned on and a flashlight.  
Three figures approached and came down to the creek. Emma could see a tall man and a little boy and girl.  
Emma smiled when they came into view. "Henry." Beside him was August holding the lantern. And Grace.  
Emma stood and Henry embraced her. "Oh, good. I thought Cora or Regina would do something horrible to you." He muttered.  
Emma paled. She felt nothing. His hug produced nothing. She was pleased to see him, to know he was safe. But she felt nothing.

"Oh God." She muttered and stiffened.  
Henry sensed this and looked up at her face. He frowned and backed away. "Something is wrong, isn't it?" Henry asked, his voice trembling slightly.  
Panic began to set in and Emma suddenly realized why Graham had seemed so crazy during that last day. She could sense her calm and logical thoughts, disappearing.  
No. She needed those. It was her one stronghold right now.  
She was going to get it back. She had to. But first she must do what she must do.  
Emma met Henry's gaze. With cold, unfeeling eyes she spoke. "Nothing's wrong. I'll get it back in..." She looked at her watch. "21 minutes. That was the deal."  
"Get back what?" August asked, worriedly.  
Emma sat back down and put her boots on. She didn't answer. She couldn't say it.  
Henry however knew. "Nooo." He stomped his foot, like a little child throwing a tantrum. "Why did you do it? What if you never get your heart back?"  
Emma stood, but didn't answer. It was too difficult to explain, without her heart.  
Henry grabbed her hand and forced her to look at him. "Do you love me?"

Emma sighed. No. The answer was no. She didn't love anything, right now. She couldn't feel with that kind of passion for anything. Not even hatred. Nothing.  
"I'm not going to lie to you, kid. No. I feel nothing. Nothing, but hot summer air and a gentle breeze. And your hand. I feel your hand." She shivered, its small warmth, stirring the panic again.  
Emma dropped it. She began to walk away towards the mines. That was where Henry was. Both Henry's. There were the answers and the battle. There was the heart of Storybrooke, Henry Mills Sr, and of course the Beast.

Henry ran after her. "I'm coming with you." He demanded.  
Emma stopped. "Only if August comes too."  
Henry shrugged. "Okay. Why?"  
Emma turned to face him. "You might need his protection."  
Henry nodded. "Where are we going?"  
"To the mines. To Henry Mills Sr. and the Beast."  
Henry's eyes widened. "Oh! I guess I would need protection from that."  
Emma shook her head. "No, you would need it from me."  
Because she was the only one of those three that he really cared about and therefore the only one that could really hurt him.  
Grace leaned in and gave Henry a kiss on the cheek. "Good Luck!"  
Henry blushed slightly.  
"I'll stay here, August." Grace remarked. "They'll keep me safe, and we can catch up while you are gone."  
August nodded. And Henry, still slightly dazed, and Emma walked together towards the darkness.


	47. And she was choosing together

Thanks minorshan! I love your story too, and was thinking the same thing about it just yesterday. I will have to give you a full review to explain, why I love your story.

Grace being the grandmother was the first thing I thought of when I saw that Jefferson could not only go through portals to other worlds, but back in time. I thought, ha, wouldn't it be funny if they had to go back in time, to ensure that the ending the show provides, of a happy nature, whatever it might be for the writers, happened at all. I figured that would be the ultimate test of his strength. Setting him firmly on the right path, as a human being, even if it was into the past. I hope the writers do something amazing like that.

Since the show provides us with all these complex characters, it is quite the test to provide additional back stories and then futures, and methods of redemption for them, this my test as a writer, to twist and turn them, hint by hint, struggle by struggle, heart by heart, to love and maybe happiness.

But...you are quite right...I have neglected to provide a reason why they knew Henry Sr. was in the mines... oops. Hope that doesn't bother anyone too badly. :) You can come up with your own reason...

And now, Regina and Snow's painful, but necessary talk.

***  
Snow had fallen asleep in her old apartment. They had gone back there after Emma had left, because Henry wanted his phone. He was sure that he had left it there, but they had been unable to find it. Henry requested to go back to Granny's to see if he had left it in August's room and the two of them had wandered off to go find it.  
Snow had asked to stay behind, stating she would keep looking for it in her apartment, and August had almost challenged this. However, Snow was glad for his departure.

Perhaps, he saw that she just wanted a few moments alone, to grieve openly, without Henry nearby to worry. He was 10 and while he had seen it happen, it seemed not to have sunk in, because he was back up and plotting already.  
It would hit him later.  
And Snow needed to be strong then.  
She had fallen asleep crying and when she awoke, she realized that 2 hours had passed since Emma had left them and 45 minutes since Henry and August had left. Snow frowned. It was a 5 minute walk to Granny's at most.  
She checked her cell, nothing.

She was about to text David's cell in her half awake state and she gave a renewed burst of tears at remembering again that he would not answer. Grumpy and the other dwarves had taken his body somewhere, after he had helped Red and Granny carry Emma to the couch in the library.  
Snow was about to dial Grumpy's cell number, which she had obtained last week, when there was a knock at her door.  
Surely Henry and August would come right in?  
Snow went to the door. It was locked. Had she locked it? Had August?  
She opened the door quickly.  
It was not Henry or August. Nor Grumpy, or Red. Or even Emma.  
It was the person she wanted to see least of all.  
Regina.

It took Snow a minute to recover thought. She swore and was about to slam the door on Regina's face, but something seemed wrong. Different. Whatever it was, Regina looked less frightening and more sad. But not in a defeated way.

Snow closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "What do you want, Regina?" She spit out acidly.  
Regina didn't flinch, she didn't even seem to notice Snow's tone.  
This made Snow pause. What the hell was wrong with her? And why was she here?  
Snow raised her eyebrow and looked at Regina with curiosity instead of anger.  
This brought Regina back and into the conversation. She glanced around behind Snow, to see if anyone else was there. "Can we talk? Just us?"  
Snow wiped the tears off of her face. "I'm all alone, if that's what you want to know."  
She steadied her gaze like a soldier. "You can do whatever else you would like to me and no one will stop you."  
This gave Regina pause. She closed her eyes briefly. "We need to talk, whether you or I want to." She met Snow's gaze trying to convey the level of seriousness in the moment.  
Snow silently let her in. It was then that she first noticed the box. Regina placed a very girly looking, pink ribboned and ballerina box on the table.  
Seeing Snow's gaze shift to the box, Regina commented. "It's Grace's box. Not my style, I know."  
Snow raised an eyebrow. "And what is in the box?" She asked, though she was sure she didn't want to know.  
Regina hesitantly opened the box.  
There was a magical beating heart in it.  
Snow paled. All the still fresh memories of that morning, flooding her again. She bit her lip. She was not going to cry, not now.  
She shifted her gaze to Regina, her eyes harsh and wounded. "Who it it? And why is it here?"  
Regina sat down at one of the bar stools in the kitchen and Snow did the same.  
"The first question is easy. This is Emma." Regina started. She continued quickly interrupting before Snow could comment. "Why it's here, is harder." She glanced at a clock on the wall. "But we have 18 minutes to get ourselves and our pasts sorted and aside, so that we can deal with this."  
Snow swallowed her anger. "Why 18 minutes?" That certainly didn't seem like enough time for anything good to come between them.  
Regina sighed and closed the lid to the box. "Because in 18 minutes, I lose possession of this heart. And what happens to it then, is fair game."

Snow was silent. The weight of everything was weakening her, she could feel the beast stir. A beast which had been unusually quiet as of late.  
Her daughter had felt the beast and she had done something stupid and drastic. Now she had to help her. And it seemed Regina was trying to do the same, though Snow couldn't decide why.

Regina seemed to sense the beast stirring and without thinking she placed a hand on Snow's that was sitting on the counter. Snow came back to life and met Regina's eyes. Something was definitely different.  
"What did she do? And what are you proposing we should do about it?" Snow asked.

Regina removed her hand and sighed. "She traded with my mother. That however long she talked with Margaret White's heart, that I owned her heart for that long afterwards." Regina quickly gave details of the whole dramatic 29 minutes.  
Snow grimaced. Emma had talked with her mother. And now she was walking without a heart in her chest.  
"It was informative to say the least. And what she did to my mother was...well absolutely brilliant. I think it is first time I have felt ahead of her in this stupid game." Regina smiled dangerously, but sobered quickly. "However, we not at all ahead of the beast. It is many steps ahead. It is just waiting for...15 minutes to be up." Regina added looking at the clock again.

Snow nodded. She knew how the beast manipulated the small technicalities. It would march right in, full force as soon as it was able. "What do you think we should do?" Snow asked curiously. She still didn't trust Regina and certainly was angry with her, but fear for Emma's well being was stronger than both of those things.

Regina sighed. "If it was as easy as putting her heart back in her chest, I would have done so already. Someone that isn't me needs to make a deal." Regina replied heavy hearted.

Snow raised an eyebrow. "With Rumpelstiltskin?"

Regina nodded. "Magical sabotage. Taking something from me before I lose it. You ask for Emma's heart to be returned to her ownership and placed back inside her chest in exchange for something."  
Snow pondered this. "But magic of that strength would require a hefty price. Even Emma seemed to understand that, when she traded heart for heart."  
Regina held Snow's gaze. Snow looked deep into her eyes. What she saw scared her. Regina knew this. Regina had taken everything from her, just as she had taken everything from her. Regina knew that they were both going down in flames and whether it was together or seperate was their decision. And she was choosing together.

But they would both be leaving something behind that they cared about. A son and a daughter. And Snow hoped the two of them could take care of each other as best they could.

Snow sighed and looked back up at the clock. 13 minutes.

"He will ask for my heart." Snow remarked, though she was sure Regina already knew that.

Regina nodded. "And you will agree. The beast won't have it that way, and I will finally be able to destroy you." She said this without malice however and Snow seemed worried. Like this really was the end.

"How? You can't willingly harm me. Just as I can not willingly harm you." Snow inquired. They had already been down this road, too many times.

"You won't be you anymore. Without your heart, who are you really? Just the fairest face in the land." Regina replied intensely.  
Snow sighed. "I don't think the beast will see that as a technicality. What if you can't destroy me? You know what kind of evil the beast could do with my magic and my body, uninhibited by anything."  
Regina stood suddenly and grabbed Snow's bottle of scotch that had Emma had last drank out of, from the other room. She poured Snow and herself a glass and brought it back.  
Snow didn't comment and took a sip, the liquid burning her throat. Regina however downed hers quickly.  
"Then I will die, where it won't matter. For if I do, I would be taking all of my magic with me, back into the void. Where it will be spread out among everything in Storybrooke, evenly distributed like it was supposed to be."  
Snow blinked. " Your magic?"  
Regina nodded. Then stared at her empty glass with a look of shame.  
"All of it, yours, the bit you gave me, my mother's, all of it is really mine. What I was born with. My mother couldn't bear the thought of losing me, when the fairies told her that they were to take me in, so she divided up the magic herself. The magic that would destroy her and your mother and you. And me. Everything."  
Regina flung her empty glass and it shattered against the refridgerator door. "My magic, is what is holding the curse together. Emma, a product of your love, will unravel it. If she dies, we go back, before the curse. And we can't do that." Regina began to unwind, talking faster and more anxious. "Think of all the things that we could do wrong, all over again. What if it turns out worse? At least, if I die, the curse ends. Everyone will be free to come and go here, no longer trapped by my misery and unhappiness. It isn't a happy ending, but..."

There was a long tense silence between them. Snow stood put a kettle on to boil and placed out two mugs with chamomile tea bags in them. "I find this usually works better than liquor." She stated calmly.

Regina stared for a moment at the tea mug and laid her head in her arms on the counter. "Why are still nice to me?" She muttered.  
Snow took a deep breath. "You started it."  
Regina raised her head. "What?"  
"You started it. You helped me and I merely wanted to return the favor. When I hurt you, still you reached out to help me. You started it." Snow replied simply. It wasn't really that simple, but it was the closest that she could get to explaining.

Regina cocked her head and furrowed her brow. Snow poured the tea into her mug.  
Regina pulled it close to her, but did not drink it. "You make it so hard to hate you." She muttered.  
Snow closed her eyes and smiled somberly. She could say the same about Regina.  
"You seem different than I remember you." Snow mused, opening her eyes.  
"Well, it has been a hard day." Regina started.  
"No, no, not just today. Sure, something happened today that seems to have shook you, but you seem different in general." Snow clarified. "You seem stronger."  
Regina paled. "How so?" She had just done more dark magic today than in many years.

Snow shrugged. "You have had strong dark magic before. That made you seem strong and dangerous, but you never felt strong to me. You always looked like you were barely there, your hatred of me, the strongest part of you." Snow sipped her tea. "But now, your use of magic is cautious, your motives unclear, and your hatred of me, weaker. Here we are having tea, like you didn't just kill my husband. Like you didn't just rip my daughter's heart out." Snow held her gaze at Regina, as though searching her soul. How Snow longed to understand the mind of the most mysterious and cryptic woman she knew. A mystery to even herself it seemed.

Regina shivered. "And you too, should feel justified in hating me. But you don't. Hate me." She stated this as fact She took a sip of tea, its warmth and steam clearing her mind.  
Snow gave a half smile. Then she looked at the clock. 9 minutes. Snow sighed. She tried to put words to why she did not hate Regina. Despite everything.

"If I did, it would be more than easy to fall into self-hatred. A pit from which one rarely returns. That is why you erased my memories, isn't it? When I jumped from the castle wall." A tear escaped. Snow closed her eyes. How sad that Regina's last bit of kindness to her, had been the thing that had pushed her over the edge, down the slope into the darkness.

Regina did not respond, but she looked like she was thinking on that moment in their past.  
It had been a Catch-22 really. Regina knew the depths of Snow's suffering and had cared about her enough to remove it. Except her suffering and grief had been that which was soothing her wounds and removing it had merely rubbed Regina's own wounds all the wrong way. Something would eventually lead to her releasing more suffering upon Snow. Her grief which of course, in its own twisted way was once again destroying Regina.

"And if you don't love yourself, then why should you love anything else? Who would?" Snow mused.  
Regina's thoughts went immediately to her mother. A woman who whose cold, heartless treatment of her all those years, had likely been a result of her own self-hatred.  
Snow's thoughts turned to Emma. Her beautiful and tragic daughter who seemed, through Henry's help as well as everything that happened in Storybrooke, to be climbing out of that very metaphorical pit. Because she wanted to be loved, just like everyone else, and for once it seemed like that sort of thing might be possible.  
That is why Emma had gone to Cora. Snow was sure of it. Because Cora had been without love too.  
Snow looked back at Regina who was sipping her tea, lost in thought.

This was it. This was what was different. Regina was doing the same. Climbing out of the metaphorical pit of self-hatred. She seemed closer to the young woman that Snow had met when she was 12 then she ever had before.  
In that moment, Snow's anger at Regina for the events of that morning disappeared. Regina had really thought she was saving the both of them from a lifetime of suffering. Either that or...

Snow stopped. She couldn't go down that line of thought. If it wasn't true, then she would only make herself more miserable.

She glanced back at the clock. 5 minutes.

"Okay. I will do what you wish. I will ask for the deal. On one condition." Snow added.  
Regina tilted her head curiously.  
"You can't be the one to kill me." Snow replied taking a sip of tea.  
"I should finally be able to" Regina responded softly.  
"Which is exactly why you can't be the one to do it." Snow reminded gently. "No need to give the beast more fodder. It is what you have wanted for so long, but it certainly not what you need. You will have to be content with my demise, even if you have no part in it."  
Regina took another sip of tea. And nodded. Either way, she was never going to be happy. Never again.

Regina stood and placed down the tea. They had a deal to make.  
"Where is Henry, anyway? I figured he would be with you."  
She picked up the box and Snow followed her towards the door.  
"He's with August, looking for his lost cell phone." Snow replied as she closed the door and locked it.  
Regina visibly flinched. "How...how long has it been missing?"  
Snow shrugged. "Pretty much all day. Henry hasn't seen it since this morning at the diner."  
"So, he couldn't have texted me this afternoon?" Regina muttered to herself. She grabbed Snow's arm. "Where's yours?"  
"My cell?" Snow blinked in surprise. She fished in her purse.  
Regina grabbed it and ripped off the battery. She switched out the sim card with the pieces of her phone from earlier.  
Snow was about to protest, but she knew better than to interrupt Regina in her teetering mood. Regina texted Henry's number.  
_Aladdin._  
"It won't work, unless he found it recently." Snow commented. "I already called it an hour ago."  
But then it dinged.  
_I don't want to talk to you._  
"Ha!" Regina made a excited noise.  
"Guess he found it." Snow muttered.  
Regina shook her head. "Henry didn't send this."  
Snow raised an eyebrow.  
Regina grinned.  
_What about Cobra?_  
The phone took awhile, but there was a response.  
_You're the real snake._  
Regain laughed. "The sender doesn't know what that really means." She looked a bit crazy again in her relief. "Henry doesn't hate me."  
"Come." She dragged Snow by the arm. "Time is running out."  
***


	48. Dark Matter

***  
The Blue Fairy, drug herself from the nunnery. Everything was spinning and she knew she was dying. She reached the first set of houses by the road. She didn't go into the first house however. She was looking for someone specific.  
She leaned up against the outside wall of the house. She was cold and hot and the same time and she could feel herself sweating. She knocked on the red door and propped herself up against the wall again.  
A man came out of the fancy home and frowned upon seeing the Blue Fairy.  
"Come in." He gestured, though his voice and his energy were anything but kind.  
The Blue Fairy stumbled into the foyer and into the sitting room. She collapsed on a plush chair by the fire. She could barely tell which way was up and which way was down.

"What do I owe the pleasure?" the man asked with fake kindness.  
The Blue Fairy took a few deep breaths.  
"I was your family's guardian for four centuries. And then my protégée, Novilla came after me. You can at least stop with the fake kindness. I know what kind of man you are, King George." The Blue Fairy closed her eyes. Maybe that would stop the spinning.

King George frowned. "If you knew what kind of man I was, then why are you here? What could I possibly do for you that you and I would see eye to eye on, Gertrude?"

The Blue Fairy frowned, hearing a name so long ago given to her. Back when she was a novice. "I know you hate me, but then you hate everyone. You blame some of your families misfortunes on Novilla's assistance or lack-there-of. Whichever suited you best at the time. Never satisfied, always miserable."

George slapped her across the face. "Don't speak to me that way in my own house! You can die for all I care."  
Gertrude just smiled however.  
"See there is something we can agree on. You wish I was dead. So do I."

King George frowned. "Oh?"  
Gertrude nodded weakly. "I'm becoming a dark fairy. But you already know that." She gripped the arm of the chair. Just a bit more, she thought. I only have to hold on a little bit more.  
"And I have come, to give you what you have always wanted. To see me dead."

If King George was shocked at this confession and part plea, he did not show it. But his anger showed.  
"That's it? You want me to kill you?" He growled. "Because I already have blood on my hands. Because you couldn't possibly ask one of your fairies to do it? Because you are too cowardly to do it yourself?" He was beginning to yell. "Where is your precious Dark One?" He spit into the fire. "Isn't that what he is for? To destroy you monsters when you've finally decided you have had enough? That you are just as misguided and culpable as anybody else around here?"

Gertrude cowered, the pain increasing, his yelling not helping. But the truth in his words was more painful. "Fine, is that what you want to hear? I screwed up. Over and over again. That I was wrong?"

King George blew air out of his nose like an angry bull. But he stopped yelling.  
Gertrude looked up. "That really is all you wanted wasn't it?"  
King George would not meet her eyes. "You killed her. And you wouldn't even admit it."

The image of the young boy of about 16, holding a young girl, a fairy, who looked about the same age, flashed before her mind. Sobbing over a lost love. A friend taken violently from the world. The first memory that Emma had seen. That anyone had been able to see. A deep scar.  
"We had to, you know that." Gertrude weakly defended. "She had become a dark fairy, she was killing people and twisting other fairies. One of which, evaded us for years, before Snow finally destroyed her."

"Perhaps, but you killed her all the same," King George growled. "You can't take something like that back."

He was right. Death was final. Which is why she was here.

"Have you ever watched someone die?" The Blue Fairy asked. "Not after they are dead, not before they die, but holding them as they die?"

King George gave a warning glare. "I have sent many prisoners to their deaths."  
Gertrude shook her head. "No, I mean up close, watching their eyes."  
George shook his head. "No, I have never been that twisted." He seemed almost offended. His voice was harsh, but sad.

The Blue Fairy smiled cryptically. "No. I suppose not. No pleasure in the taking, even if the taking brings you pleasure." She gripped the chair tighter. It was winning. That was not something she would have said, no matter how true it was.  
King George scowled, but then his face softened. " You speak in riddles, but I know you speak of Cora."  
The Blue Fairy sighed. She closed her eyes. Cora. One woman, who caused so much trouble. She supposed that some of it was King George's fault, but she hadn't been thinking about that.

King George sat down in the chair opposite her by the fire. "Why do you ask? About watching someone die?"

The Blue Fairy smiled, but kept her eyes closed. Sweat poured down her face and she could feel her muscles twitching. "When a Blue Fairy dies, the next chosen fairy is supposed to gaze into their predecessor's eyes. I did this for the previous Blue Fairy, many many years ago. She hadn't chosen me, she hadn't chosen anyone really, but she was dying and I was the fairy who was there." Gertrude shivered thinking of that moment. It was the fairy who had created the Dark One. The one who had created a role, a person whose duty it was to do all the things that fairies stayed away from. Such as killing other fairies, even dark ones. She had not known the mess she had created, until one of them killed her in anger. She still wasn't sure why Zozo, hadn't killed her too.

"I thought it was going to be some sort of power transfer or some sort of secret, but it was not. But maybe I just wasn't seeing it right. Maybe I wasn't really looking?"

King George coughed. "And?"

The Blue Fairy opened her eyes. "When Novilla died in my arms, after the current Dark One had killed her, I saw something. It was like a window, into something. As the light faded from her eyes...I don't know... I don't know what I saw." Gertrude began to mutter and broke off. "It was so fleeting and now years later, I wonder if I imagined it. If I was biased. If I wanted to see what I saw."  
She stopped. The heart of darkness was pleased with this line of thought. She could feel it, its power seeping into her. That was the only thing that kept her under any assumption that she was right.  
"I guess I was just wondering if someone else had seen it too. If you will see it now, when I die." The Blue Fairy started again.

"You are assuming that I agreed to kill you." King George sneered.

The Blue Fairy gave a heavy sigh. "If not, then you condemn me. No one has the strength to resist the darkness alone. It will win eventually. Did you know that the scientists of this world say that the whole universe here is made up of matter and dark matter. 84% of the universe is this dark matter. And that they have no idea where the dark matter comes from or what it does, but it is necessary to hold the universe together, scientifically speaking. 84% of the universe is darkness." She repeated.

King George was silent for a long while, thinking. "Then the darkness can't win."

Gertrude opened her eyes and met his eyes. "How so?"

King George gave a bitter smile. "Because the universe would collapse on itself. Matter would stop existing. Even the Dark Matter."  
The Blue Fairy contemplated this. "In it's greed it could destroy itself, I suppose."

George stood. "No, because there will always be someone to balance the scales. Dark One or no Dark One." He walked over towards the Blue Fairy in her chair.

Then without warning, he grabbed her by the neck. The Blue Fairy struggled against his grip, but soon came her senses. He was helping her. He was balancing the scales, however crudely. She met his eyes and let him squeeze the life from her mortal and magical body.

She kept his gaze until she could see no more.

King George let go. He stood up straight and let out of string of curse words. He had seen it. Whatever it was. There were no good words to describe it. And how he hated that he had seen it. He didn't want what he saw to be true.

He knew that scientists of this world also said matter can neither be created or destroyed. Perhaps they were right on this too. Maybe it changed states, becoming dust and air. Or maybe it wasn't that simple. Nothing was ever that simple. Not even Cora. Especially not Cora.

He turned back to look at the body, but it had faded into fairy dust. Blue Fairy dust, not dark fairy dust.  
It didn't get her after all. King George gave a weak smile.  
Then he began collecting the dust into a dustpan, he cleaned off his chair. He collected the dust in a funnel and into a small vial that had once held liquor.

The fairies were going to want this. And he knew that the corresponding favor would be very pricey.

Emma, August and Henry descended into the mine. Emma had been down there before, and that had been scary enough. But now even with magic up and running, she didn't feel frightened. She felt suffocated. Emotionally suffocated. What little emotion she could sense was draining from her with every step. Every smell, every rush of wind against her face was fading from her perception. She glanced at Henry. He seemed to be much worse off. He was visibly trembling, his face contorted and the flashlight beam wavering.  
"You two should leave." Emma muttered.  
"Not without you." Henry contested.  
August's face was pained too, but he protested as well.  
Emma saw that their hearts were ruling their minds, so logical arguments would not work. She accepted temporary defeat on the issue. She started to walk faster. Perhaps if they could get there quicker, the sensation would be over sooner.  
She turned her head to look back, to see if they were keeping up.

_Honk! _  
"_Are you kidding me, stupid driver." A voice yelled. _  
_Emma turned to her right. _  
"_Hello, Emma. Please tell me your aren't high or something? Or falling asleep at the wheel. I would like to make it to my apartment please." The young Hispanic woman in her passenger seat spoke with worry mixed with anger. _  
"_No, I'm not high. Not anymore. Gave that shit up years ago." Emma muttered. She was feeling a bit weird however. Was she high? How did she even get here? She knew this was Liza, her old juvenile cellmate and she was driving her to her boyfriend's place, now that she was finally done with her prison sentence. But..._  
"_Hello!" Liza shook her hand in front of her face. "Should I drive?" _  
"_No, no.." Emma muttered. "I'm fine." _  
_Liza didn't look convinced. _  
_This seemed familiar. Like this had happened. But what had happened before? Emma couldn't remember, it was like a fog. _  
"_So..." Emma tried to strike up conversation. "Why are you still with douche bag, Turner? Didn't you swear you wouldn't go back to him, ever?" _  
"_I did not say such a thing." Liza protested. _  
"_Certain you did. Right after your trip back from the clinic, when he never came and picked you up. Left you to pay for your own abortion, after he swore he would pay. I had to lose a tail on a bounty to pick up you." Emma protested, trying to save her sort of friend from future heartache. Even though she was fairly certain that they had never had this exact conversation. _  
"_What are you talking about? What abortion?" Liza looked angry. "I'm not even pregnant." _  
_Emma blinked. She was sure this had happened. Because this was the last time she ever saw Liza. Before she killed herself. Or was that a different car ride? How did she know this information already then? _  
_Magic. This wasn't real. Not like this. _  
_Emma sighed. She really wished it was though. Maybe she could have saved her cellmate if she had somehow known what would happen. _  
_No. Don't think that way. This is a trap. _  
_This is the beast's lair. _  
"_This isn't real." Emma yelled to the heavens. "Not real." Liza protested. "What are you talking about? Seriously, are still doing drugs?" _  
"_Not real." Emma protested. _

The cave floor came into view. Henry was shaking her shoulder. "Emma? What isn't real?"  
Emma took her face off of the floor and rubbed it. "Oh, God, it's playing mind tricks on me now."  
August frowned. "What is?"  
"The beast. It tried to trap me in a memory. One, I wished I could change." Emma muttered. "But I saw the flaw in the logic of the scenario. I knew information that I couldn't possibly have known at that point in time."  
Henry frowned. "That sounds frightening."  
Emma shook herself and stood. "Come on, hurry up before it tries again."

The three continued walking, this time faster. They came to a split in the tunnels. "We should spilt and see where each one ends."  
"No!" Henry and August shouted together.  
Emma blinked. Then she sighed. Good thing she was not able to feel anger either. Because she was fairly certain that if she could, she would be well on her way to pissed already.  
She chose the path on the right and the two of them jogged to keep up.

The path seemed to go on forever, however, without turning. August glanced at his watch.  
"How much time?" Henry asked. "5 minutes."  
Emma turned around. "Then we need to hurry. If my heart gets involved, I could be stuck here forever."  
Emma began to run.

_Emma was running, down a forested highway. Her lungs were giving out and her vision fading. She looked down and there was a wound on her arm. She reached out touched her head which hurt too. Blood was coming out of a wound on her forehead. She slowed to a stop. Someone had to find her. She lifted her cell phone. No bars. _  
_Emma swore. _  
_She sat down. She was all alone. _  
_She'd always been alone. Who would miss her?_

"Emma!" Henry yelled as she took a fall again. "Come on, don't listen to it." He and August tried to shake her. Henry held her hand. Nothing. Her breathing was short and troubled and her eyes were glazed over, open but unseeing.

_Emma opened her eyes. She was in a room. A square, white room. With just a bed. She looked down at herself. Her wound was healed on her arm and she was wearing a hospital like gown. Emma swore again. _  
_She stood and went to the window on the door. "Hello?" _  
_A nurse who looked just like the nurse in the Storybrooke hospital greeted her. "Can I help you, Emma Smith? Lunch will be in 20 minutes. Dr. Booth should be in then if you can wait." _  
"_Where am I?" Emma frowned. _  
_The nurse sighed. "We go over this everyday, Ms. Emma. You are in the Maine State Mental Institute and have been for four months."_  
_Emma paled. "Why?" Surely this wasn't right? But she seemed to recall a dream where this had happened. _  
"_I dreamed this once." Emma combated. "This isn't real though." Henry! She had to get back to Henry._  
_The nurse shook her head. "We go over this everyday too, Ms. Emma." She seemed weary. _  
"_Which seems more likely, hmm? That you found a strange land where everyone is a fairytale character, and you are the savior that will rescue them from a curse? Or that you hit your head and crashed your car, high on some pretty strong hallucinogenics and now are you unable to separate your delusions from real life?" _  
_Emma looked to protest this. She didn't do drugs. Not anymore. And never the real strong stuff. Why did everyone think so? It had been almost 8 years now. _  
_You could have succumbed, that sort of this happens. Former drug users go back to old ways in moments of high stress. _  
_Emma shook her head. She hadn't done that, she knew she hadn't. She looked back up. The nurse was gone. But someone else was there. _  
_August! He would sort things out. _  
_Funny, he was wearing a doctor's coat. Emma frowned. _  
"_How are we, this morning, Ms. Smith?" He chirped, over cheerful. _  
"_It's Swan." Emma curtly replied. _  
"_Fine, Ms. Emma then today." August closed his eyes briefly. _  
"_So I hear we are having another bad day." He continued. "That makes three in a row. Perhaps, we should try upping your medication. We'll see what Dr. Hopper has to say." _  
"_Archie...Jiminy Cricket! He is here too?" Emma ranted. She felt like she was going insane. August acted like he didn't know her. _  
_Henry! _  
"_And Henry, where is Henry?" She continued, her voice rising in pitch. _  
_August flipped open a chart. "Right, your son. It's his birthday tomorrow isn't it? Maybe that is why you are flipping out this week." _  
"_Where is he?" Emma demanded, grabbing his arm. _  
_August pulled her off of him and stood. "You gave him up 11 years ago, Ms. Emma. Closed adoption."_  
"_Yes, yes, but I know him now. He lives in Storybrooke, Maine. I have to get back to him." Emma argued. _  
_August shook his head. "There is no such place. Shall I bring in the map again?" _  
_Emma shook her head too. Her vision was spotting again and she felt her knees weaken. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real. Henry! _

"I'm right here, Emma." Henry yelled as he heard her mumbled his name. "Don't believe it. Don't you listen to the beast!" He squeezed her hand tightly.

Emma gasped for air. Her eyes shifted into focus. She looked around at the cave and at Henry's worried face. Emma swore. "They're getting worse." She looked at August. He was grimacing and flexing his hand.  
"What is happening to you?" Emma asked. "Are you seeing things?"  
August shook his head.  
"My joints are getting stiff. And my wooden leg is becoming wooden legs."  
Henry turned his attention to August. "What?"  
"I think it is trying anything it can think of, exploiting our weak points." August muttered. "It is attacking me physically, and you Emma, mentally, since you are currently without your heart."  
Emma frowned. That seemed logical, but still frustrating.  
She turned to Henry. "How are you?"  
Henry shrugged. "This places gives me the creeps, but I don't think it has tried anything yet."  
Emma gazed her son in the lantern light. Her gaze fell upon the necklace around his neck, which was the slightly glowing blue in the darkness of the cave.  
"I think that it is because of that." She announced, pointing to the necklace. "It must be some sort of good magic."  
Henry looked down at it. Two things crossed his mind. One, that Rumpelstiltskin had told him the necklace would bring the answers he sought. And two, that it had once belonged to Cora. Who had worn it until she had traded it to Rumpelstiltskin.

"This is where it all went wrong." Henry announced out loud. "When Rumpelstiltskin took this necklace from Cora. That's where all this trouble started."

"I think it was way before that." Emma muttered, getting to her feet again. "Like from the beginning of time." She picked up the lantern and began to walk again. "Each one of us, posed, just waiting for something to be the thing that destroys us."

August growled at her. "Ignore her Henry. That is just the beast speaking."  
Emma kept walking. "The beast lives in all of us, August. No use denying it."  
August grabbed Henry's hand. "Shut up, Emma!"

Emma turned around to say something else obviously cold and emotionless, but probably true, when suddenly the air was knocked out of her lungs and she fell to the ground.  
***


	49. This is not a tea party!

Cora rolled over in bed. Or rather the Queen of Hearts as she was now called. Only Henry refused to call her that. So she had shrunk him down and put him in a box. Couldn't let her tenuous reign be threatened by insubordination.  
Cora had stolen him and had him brought here by the White Rabbit. To her realm, her prison. She had missed him, but of course she had been too proud to tell him that. And now that he was in the box, it was almost as if she didn't have him again.  
She snuck out of bed, giving her soldiers a steely look as she made her way into the garden maze, with the boxes. Where she kept all the hearts she had collected. None of them, bringing her any closer to peace or love. Just enough to beat back the darkness.  
She opened the box with Henry in it and dropped in an orange slice. Henry looked oranges, he would always trade with merchants for them. A little slice of joy, he called them. He hadn't eaten the day before's orange slice and he ignored this one too.  
"Henry." Cora softly pleaded. "Eat something."  
"What's the point?" He muttered. "Regina will be here tomorrow to rescue me."  
Cora's anger flared. It was always her over Cora. "Oh, go ahead and leave me for your precious daughter."  
"I have to. If I don't then, there will be no one to parent her." Henry meekly protested.  
"Regina is a grown, married woman." Cora growled. "She doesn't need a parent."  
"I'll agree with grown," Henry replied. "But it's widowed now."

Cora frowned. King Leopold had been much older then Regina, but not that old. He was in good health the last time she had seen him.  
"He looked fine to me, last I saw him."  
Henry nodded. "Until Regina killed him. Or rather emotionally manipulated a man to do it for her. Playing at love, like a small child. Now she has progressed to stealing grown men's hearts from their very chests, holding them in servitude, a sort of intimate bondage." Henry hissed.  
Cora paled. Her daughter had not gotten better with her absence from her life. She had gotten worse.  
"Snow?" Cora asked anxiously, thinking of the young girl she had left behind. The one with Maggie's heart.  
"Grown up, and wanted for the murder of a father she loved, that she didn't commit. Running around hiding from Regina who has not once, but twice tried to have someone kill her. Since she can't do it herself." Henry sighed.  
"She could come here, I could protect her." Cora offered.  
"Of course, you would." Henry replied bitterly. "But she won't come."  
"Why not?"  
"Because she barely remembers you and what memories she has retained have not been the most pleasant."  
"Retained?"  
Henry was on a roll now, the angriest Cora had ever seen him. "Oh, yes. Join me Snow, the Beast will take you eventually anyway...great stuff." Henry stood and stared her down. "Snow found out she had a hand in killing Daniel and she tried to kill herself. Three times. But she couldn't do that either, could she? She couldn't even assuage Regina's anger with sacrifice."  
"Regina erased her memories. Only decent thing she has done in the last several years. And now she doesn't even have Snow's grief and love to console her."

Cora swallowed. Grief was one emotion she was very familiar with. She deflected. "Well, I haven't been there in years, sounds like you are doing a great job too." She bit back.  
Henry sighed. His voice was strained. "Nothing, I do seems to matter. The magic I got from Regina, when you split it up hasn't done any good. All the visions are for not. All courses of action on my part, still lead to the Destruction of Everything."  
Cora paled. "But Rumpelstiltskin..."  
"I know what he predicted. And we divided up her magic, despite his refusal to help us in that matter. Maybe, because that is what he knew we would do. Maybe that is what did it, Cora."

Cora could feel the Beast, still ever present, even here, rising up, threatening to swallow her. "You should never have let that orphan boy into our home."

"Right, blame this on the kid, now." Henry growled.

"And why shouldn't I, for putting dreams of marriage in her head. Dirt poor and miserable is what she would be."  
"Those were not his dreams, those were your own daughter's. That was her escape fantasy. Who needed money when you had love? Daniel had more sense than you give him credit. He loved her, but he knew he couldn't feed her."

"Then why elope? Hmm?" Cora challenged.

"He came to me and I assured him that if he loved Regina, that I would provide him with two horses and a small sack of money. But he wasn't worried about that. He showed me the rings that the money he had earned from doing readings had funded. It had taken him 3 months to save up for them, but that was all he needed...because he said he knew he was never leaving my estate."

Henry let that sink in. "He knew he was going to die that night, Cora. He just wanted Regina to be sure of his honorable intentions with a token. He was a Seer, Cora. That is why my sister had asked that I take him in. Since Regina's magic had given me some experience of my own with that."

Cora paled again. Daniel's first words to her, when they had taken him in at age 12, as she reluctantly showed him the grounds, had been. "I guess this is a beautiful place to die."  
Cora swallowed. She had always just assumed that since he had been rescued from a battlefield that he had been stuck musing on that.

But the orphan boy who had seen dozens of his own townspeople die in front of his very eyes, had known death.  
And he had embraced it there in the stables. And his last words, rang in her head. He had to have known about the dark fairy, or the Beast. He had to have.

"I'm tired, Cora," Henry mumbled. "I'm too old to keep this up. Unless there is a miracle in the next few weeks, then this will be our last conversation."

"Because Regina will destroy the world?" Cora bitterly questioned.

"No, because she will cut out my heart to do so." Henry sighed. He laid his head down on the orange slice.

Cora was silent. Deathly silent.

"Did you ever once love me, even just for a moment?" Henry asked softly.

Cora bit her lip. Henry was the one person that she could never lie to. But here she was actually unsure. "I don't know. I don't think so."  
Henry gave a heavy sigh. "That's too bad. I was hoping one day, you would understand what love returned felt like." Henry rolled over, his back towards Cora.  
Cora closed the box, her throat too constricted to even say goodbye. Cora blew air from her mouth, squared her shoulders back and haughtily marched back to bed. Where she cried for the first time since her wedding night to King George all those years ago.

True to Henry's word, Regina arrived the next day to rescue him and return him to their realm.  
But she left behind a hat maker. Fate had finally smiled on Cora. A way out was at hand. She would let him go crazy trying to get home on his own and then she would approach him.

She had made the mistake of telling him Regina was her daughter, whom she was trying to stop from making a terrible mistake. And when he betrayed her, just as Regina had done to him, Cora had figured that this was really the end of everything. Stuck half outside of her prison world and yet unable to enter this new prison that her daughter had created.

So it surprised her when he came back for her. He looked much older, and his eyes showed that he had suffered greatly for a much longer period of time then his age seemed to imply.  
"I guess you have more heart than I gave you credit for."  
Was he complementing her?  
"Now, don't think I have gone soft or anything. Because I thought you had no heart originally. So anything would be an improvement."  
"I hate you too." Cora sneered.  
Jefferson smiled.  
"Good. It would be unnerving to say the least, if you didn't."  
He gestured towards the open portal. "After you milady."  
Cora frowned. "You'll be stuck here." He really had lost it after all those years.  
Jefferson, the hatmaker, smiled and tipped his hat to her. "I know. But this hat bends time at least. So I will still be able to be present for my big moment."  
Cora sighed. "Oh?"  
"To help rescue Alice, from you."  
Cora frowned. "Trying to change the future, makes you no better than Rumpelstiltskin." She seethed.  
"Oh, I'm not trying to change it. I'm ensuring that it happens at all."  
Jefferson grinned. He looked crazy. No, Mad. Cora flinched. It was a disease she was already familiar with.

He was the Mad Hatter...  
"Now go! This isn't a tea party."  
Cora was halfway through the portal when she turned. "You know what happens don't you?"  
Jefferson laughed, a crazy old man, laughing at life and death. At existence. "Ah, but alas, I won't tell you. But you know what it has to be. You've known for a long time."  
Cora emerged in a forest. Her daughter's forest.  
***


	50. More than

Thank you, Emma (guest)! Right now is the update. :)

And Minorshan for her compliments and plug for this story, in her own story.

And now, two pairs of weary souls, one, on the top of the stairs looking down, hoping not to fall. And the other, at the bottom of the pit and making their way up...finally.

***  
Nova and Belle were having tea when the wave hit her. Nova had been trying to listen patiently to Belle concerns about Rumpelstiltskin and about Emma. But now the Blue Fairy was dead. Nova could feel the magical surge of energy flow over her. She paled and placed the tea mug down quickly. The boundaries were open. She stood quickly.  
"What?" Belle inquired worried.  
"Gertrude, our leader is dead. If we don't get together and pick a new leader soon, all of Storybrooke could up and leave town." Nova replied quickly. "Including Cora, Rumpelstiltskin and anyone else with magic, who could cause chaos outside this town, against a whole world with no defences."  
Belle paled. She stood too and grabbed the chess board from the table, stuffing the pieces in her jacket pockets. "You go, I need to find Rumplestiltskin."  
Nova shook her head. "It'd be easier to stick with me. Rumplestiltskin is probably the one who killed her anyway, so he will likely have something to offer us."  
Belle paled. "Why would he do that?"  
"Cora magically sabotaged the Blue Fairy. She was slowly dying as it was. Becoming a Dark Fairy. She likely begged him to, to prevent this. Just as Novilla did. That is his purpose after all." Nova sighed.  
Belle frowned. "What?"  
Nova's eyes widened. "You don't know, do you?"  
Belle shook her head.  
Nova closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Well, we do try to keep it a secret, I guess. I just figured..." Nova sighed. "The Dark One, the first one, was a fairy creation. Tasked with using her magic to destroy any fairy or magical creature that had turned wrong. It was a horrible idea, in my opinion. Tasking a human with all the things that the fairies didn't want to dirty their hands and their magic with. And then the only way to get rid of a Dark One gone too far was to have someone kill them and take their place."  
Belle closed her eyes. She was still holding the chess board and with it inside it, his knife. The one thing that could really destroy him.  
"And he has gone too far, hasn't he?" A voice whispered softly in her mind. "Weren't you just saying so yourself to Nova?"  
Belle trembled.  
"Perhaps this is your destiny. To put him out of his misery. Out of love." the voice continued. "You would do that for someone you love, right?"  
Belle found herself nodding. Nova raised an eyebrow. "Belle?"  
"Surely a compassionate act such as that would make you very good at the job, I'm sure. More than Rumplestiltskin, coward and lonely man, could have have been." The voice continued. Belle had a sinking feeling that this was the Beast. The darkness that Rumplestiltskin had described. She dropped the chess board. Its latched compartment came open and the knife fell out.  
Nova sprung backwards with celerity. Neither woman moved. The blade gleamed, even with nothing shining on it. It seemed to beckon them to hold it.  
"Shut up!" Belle yelled as she heard it stir again to speak. She turned and fled not looking back to see if Nova would succumb too. She just knew she might and she needed to be as far away from it and perhaps Rumplestiltskin as possible. Like she knew the moment it lay in her hands that it would be over.  
Her mind jumped here and there. She could pack. She knew where Rumplestiltskin kept the money from the pawn shop. She was not even averse to stealing at the moment. So much in fear of becoming the Beast, was Belle that she didn't even wish to say goodbye. Like staying one more moment would break her.

Rumplestiltskin and the other remaining fairies were waiting outside the library for Regina and Snow.  
Rumplestiltskin glanced at the town clock. 4 minutes. They were pushing it kind of close. The future he had seen, showed them making the deal with him, but he hadn't figured it would be this close. Regina and Snow exited Snow's apartment and came into view. They seemed in friendlier spirits with each other then he had seen them in a long time. They also looked worried.  
Rightly so, but still the fairies shifted beside him.  
"So, we have come to an agreement?" Rumplestiltskin asked smoothly.  
Regina looked at Snow. Snow shivered. "Yes."  
She met Rumplestiltskin's eyes. A warrior and a princess looked back at him.  
"I would like to make a deal." She stated firmly.  
Rumplestiltskin shifted his weight anxiously. How she worded this would mean the difference between salvation and condemnation.  
"I want you to give my daughter, Emma Swan, total and complete possession of her own heart for all time. A heart, which is currently in the possession of Regina Mills. That includes the heart going back inside of her chest. And I need this to happen as soon as this deal is sealed."  
Rumplestiltskin grinned. Very specific and tightly worded. He didn't see a loophole for the Beast in that one. Wise Snow.  
The wind shifted and all of Storybrooke seemed to hold its breath, whether they could see the deal going down or not.

"And what shall be the price for the heavy bit of magic?" Rumplestiltskin sighed with a smile. "It must equal in weight of what you are asking."  
Snow nodded. "As payment, I am going to give possession of my own heart, Snow White's heart, to Regina Mills and her line."  
Regina paled and turned to stare at Snow. Apparently this had not been their agreement.  
Rumplestiltskin grinned broadly. Redemption was at hand. Snow was making a bold move.  
"What?" Regina asked harshly, but confused.  
"You sent the Huntsman to kill me, because you couldn't do so yourself. But you wanted my heart. Because you knew that it had to be a magical heart. You knew that the act of taking it from my chest wouldn't kill me, he would have to do that first. It would still beat and thrive on its own and you were going to stick it in a box. You weren't going to crush it, he later told me, you were going to keep it safely locked away."  
Snow turned and met her eyes. "Beaten down time and time again, Regina Mills, your first instinct is still love. Your father, Daniel, Henry...even me." Snow's voice faltered at this last part.  
"That is why I do not hate you."

"You want to know why my mother named me Snow? My mother had a book in her library. A book that was in her private collection. I didn't find it until this afternoon, in the library right behind us. Inside was a copy of Grimm's fairy tales. From the early 1800's Germany. From this world. This story was bookmarked. And with handwritten notes along the side. In my grandmother's handwriting."  
Snow smiled. "How she got, it I still do not know, but I have an idea. But I know this. I was never the girl in the fairy tales. Name or no name. Just as you are not the Evil Queen. My mother just wanted me to be that person. Because in her book, Snow White remains trusting and loving despite all torments and triumphs over the darkness with her heart still intact."  
Snow paused. "But I finally get it. Henry never wrote the end of the story into the Once upon a time storybook, not because there was no happy ending. But because you can never have a happy ending...because the story is never over...it just keeps going, generation after generation. Some of it happy, some of it sad, and none of it ever fair. This isn't about you and me, Regina. This is about a legacy."  
Snow closed her eyes. "And so I choose to give you my heart, I choose to be more than Snow White."

Rumplestiltskin smiled as Regina processed this. He glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw Belle coming out of the pawn shop. Then he glanced at the town clock. Less than a minute.  
He sighed. The future awaited. "Deal."

With that a gust of wind swept over them. The box Regina was holding flew open and the heart disappeared. Rumplestiltskin knew it had reached its destination, because the beast roared in anger and the foundations of the town shook again.

When the wind died down, Snow turned to Regina. "Well, aren't you going to take it?"  
Regina stared at the empty box. The box that at Grace's house had contained three items when she emptied it. A book of fairy tales, a small golden cross necklace and an apple. Grace. Snow's grandmother in the family tree that had hung in the library in her father's castle, her name had been Grace.

Regina swallowed and thickly responded, her own heart pounding in her ears. "Your heart belongs to me, now. It doesn't matter where I choose to store it." She muttered. The crowd gathered was speechless.  
Something else had clicked in Regina's mind and that more pressing than what she did with the unexpected heart she had just gained. Which was ironic, if her more twisted past self had realised what she was passing up.  
And Regina walked off without meeting anyone's eyes.  
And Snow beamed.  
***


	51. Because I don't believe

***  
Emma stood up, stars in her eyes and everything was spinning. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, drowning out all other noise, like she was underwater. August helped her to her feet and steadied her when she looked ready to sink back down.  
Emma closed her eyes, but she smiled. It was back. August's hold was more than support, it was comforting and arousing . Never was feeling anything, even pain and exhaustion, so exhilarating.  
She opened her eyes. August looked into her eyes, worry replaced with joy. "Thank God, you're back!" He murmured gently.

Emma gave him a sheepish smile. She turned to face Henry. Tears were on his cheeks, but he was grinning. Emma propped herself against the wall of the cave. Henry embraced her. Emma had to blink away tears. God, she loved her son. And she remembered all the joy and the sorrow that came with it. She could feel them again.  
August's watch beeped.  
Emma turned to look at him. "Wait, that was the timer for 29 minutes, right?"  
"What happened then?" She asked. "What do you suppose happened to make things change back early?"  
_Someone made a deal. _  
Emma looked around for the source of the voice. The beast usually spoke in her head, not outloud.  
_You really have to be careful how you word a bargain with dark magic. Loopholes are normal. _  
"Henry?" Emma questioned.  
"Right here." Henry answered.  
Emma shook her head. "No, Henry Sr."  
_Correct. And I have been waiting for you. _

The voice was old and soothing, in a way that the beast's was not. It wasn't placating, nor serpentine. It was firm and yet weary.  
"How about you come where we can see you?" August challenged.  
_It is hard enough to do this. I no longer have a physical form._  
Emma nodded. "Because Regina had to kill you, to create the curse?"  
There was silence. For at least a minute.  
"Way to go, bringing that up." August grumbled. "Now he may not speak again."  
_I am not so easily wounded. I was married to Cora after all. _  
August jumped slightly. Emma cracked a smile.  
Henry took a deep breath. "How can you speak to us, if you are dead?"  
_Death is just another state of being. You can never not be. _  
_Of course, the dark magic of the curse, doesn't hurt either. _  
"See, he has a sense of humor, August." Emma grinned.

"A cynical one." August muttered.

_The main thing that has kept me any shade of sane down here._

"How do I remove magic from Storybrooke, Mr. Mills?" Emma inquired. "Maggie said to ask you."  
_Of course she did. _Henry Sr. didn't seem to be pleased with this. There was a heavy sigh.  
"We can't, can we?" Henry muttered sadly.  
_You won't want to. _  
Emma looked up addressing the walls. "Why not?"  
_Returning magic to a realm that used to have it, a realm merely displaced inside of another, that was not so difficult. Adding magic is always easier. _  
"But removing it is hard. Just like you can't completely take back an injury to someone." Emma sighed.  
There was a hmmm noise of agreement.  
_If you must know, the price will be just as steep as the one that brought us here. You must sacrifice the thing you love most. _

Emma paled. "I must kill Henry? Surely, that isn't the only way." Henry's hand tensed in hers. She glanced at Henry with a look that fiercely said that was never going to happen. Henry relaxed slightly.  
_No. It doesn't have to be you. But someone must sacrifice that which they love most. With the intent of eliminating magic. _  
"Will that take us back to the where everyone is from too?" Henry asked, his voice shaking.  
_No. _  
"What will?" August asked.  
_That world is dead. Unraveled at its very core. The only way to go back, is to go back in time. _  
"Which involves killing me." Emma sighed.  
"What?" Henry turned to face her with shock. August looked worried too.  
"Is that what your rant was about? With the whiskey?" August asked softly. "Rumplestiltskin told you how to break the curse."  
Henry blinked. "What?" He merely repeated like a bleating lamb.  
"Yes, that is how you break the curse." Emma answered August, not ready to look at Henry. Her son who was previously so intent on breaking the curse. "I am part of the curse. My magic, and the magic of my conception is what was used to bring us here. I would have to die, for everyone to go back. But they would be going back, to the moments before the curse set in, so personally, I don't think that would fix anything. But I have agreed to do it."  
"What?" August verbally jumped on her, Henry just stared at the ground.  
"As an absolute last resort, obviously." Emma added. "I am not looking to mess with people's lives like that."

_Sophia was right then. You needed to decide for yourself. You needed to know what you were fighting for._  
There was an eerie silence. Which Henry broke. He seemed to be addressing Henry Sr. however. "Has this already happened? Going back in time?"  
Emma frowned. She hadn't thought of that. Was she living life over and over again, never remembering the last time?  
_Yes. Twice._  
Emma growled. "Twice? I have had to make this decision twice already?"  
_No. I would not consider them decisions if you didn't know what your death would bring._  
Now there was a heavy silence. For several minutes the group stood mulling in their thoughts.  
"What happened?" Henry timidly broke the silence.  
The voice was silent.  
"Answer, dammit." Emma growled.  
A heavy sigh.  
_So much of life is based off the little things. When one has the power to see the future, you see the big events. But you can't possibly see the small things that lead to it, or you'd spend your life watching life. _  
"That isn't an answer." Emma contested, her anger building. She felt something stir inside her again, most likely the Beast. She grit her teeth and tried to keep calm.  
Henry Sr. seemed to sense her battle and quickly added to his statement.  
_That is what destroyed me, seeing the future. I love my daughter. I died for her happiness, even though I didn't believe that this would do it. But when all you see is tragedy after tragedy, you tend to stop making choices. The man Regina knew was not the man who married Cora. Who saw potential in a long suffering woman. Regina only saw a man too cowardly to defend her from the same woman. But everything I did do led to more suffering, so I stopped acting. _

Henry surprised everyone with his response. His eyes fiery, he almost yelled at the man whom he shared a name with. "You should have fought for her. Any suffering would have been dulled by the knowledge that you would try your hardest to protect her." He began to cry and Emma wrapped her arms around him.  
_Unfortunately, Cora thought she was doing just that. _

_...But, I am fighting for her heart now. _  
"It might be too late." Henry sobbed.  
"Shh, I know it has been a long day, but we can't get our hopes down." Emma whispered stroking his hair.  
"You don't get it." Henry cried.  
"Then explain it." Emma whispered.  
"Someone had to make a deal." He cried. "To get your heart back to you. It came back before 29 minutes."  
_He's right. Actually, if someone hadn't made a deal, then it wouldn't have come back at all. _

Emma turned to August, a light going on in her mind. "Where's my mother, Pinocchio?" She growled.  
August sighed. "She wouldn't come with us. I can't be in two places at once."  
"Then you should have stayed together." Emma countered.  
"You wouldn't have lasted through the corridors of the mines, without Henry and I." August pushed back, their voices escalating.  
"Oh, yeah. Well it's not like my mother has all these extra hearts to keep giving away." Emma yelled. "Who wants to bet she ripped her own heart out for me? Because apparently that is what every psycho from this stupid world wants."  
"This is your world and your people too." August argued back, his eyes flashing.  
"Stop it." Henry sobbed. "Stop fighting."  
_Enough._  
There was silence, but the two adults were still angry with each other.  
_The beast doesn't own Snow's heart. I would have felt it. It doesn't have it. Not this time. _  
"What?" Emma looked up.  
_That's what happened the first time. You asked didn't you? _  
Emma nodded. A heavy feeling set in her stomach.  
_The first time the curse came through, Snow and you went through the tree together. That was her original plan after all. She raised you and as a young adult brought you back to a bitter and twisted realm. A bit too early, though. She was anxious to rescue her husband and your father, and you were headstrong and convinced that like all teenagers that you could handle it. Regina still had no happiness and had sold herself to the darkness, bringing magic to Storybrooke. Dark Magic. Upon entering a very magical Storybrooke, all the magic that had been removed in the journey came back into Snow and yourself. Snow fell into the dark magic in her veins, when she tried to protect you and the two of you had a huge fight. Once you learned the full story, not the epic heroic things that your mother had fed you all your life, once you felt drowned in the real darker past, the Beast made its move. Your previously sainted mother fell from your graces. Your whole world view was shattered and you soon fell with her. You eventually went a bit mad over the years and you killed her and Regina. I had to wake Rumplestiltskin's memories, which Regina had taken away, so that he could destroy you before you took Regina's place, slowly tormenting the townspeople and destroying yourself._

Emma felt like she was going to be sick. Because this, unfortunately, didn't seem like an unlikely version of how things could have ended. She closed her eyes and massaged her forehead. Henry squeezed her tighter.

August growled. "How do we know that you are not the Beast? That this isn't just some sort of poisonous lie to get us to do something?"

Emma sighed. "He is part of the Beast. Just as much as any of the rest of us are. Besides, I could see that happening, Pinocchio. That miserable and dark past."

August clenched his jaw. "Enough of that Emma! Stop selling yourself short. You are the savior of this realm."

Emma contested, "According to a book, that Henry wrote, perhaps. But if you think that somehow makes me any less like Regina or the Beast or anyone else in this miserable, suffering town, then you are lying. Lying to yourself and to Henry."

August stiffened.

Henry looked up at her with tears in his eyes. "You said you wanted to be the savior."

Emma sighed. "I do, kiddo. I do. And apparently I did then, at some point, but that still went wrong."

_But this time is different..._

Henry whispered. "What's changed?"

Emma looked at August, who was still cross, but he met her eyes. "Mary Marg...Snow...my...mother would have raised me to hear only the good things, heroic rescues and daring deeds. I know her well enough in this version of things, to know this would be true. But then finding out all those things that I know right now, about my mother and well everything, would have just made me think that same darkness was in me. That I was screwed from birth, that it was all fantasy, the rescue mission. That's enough to make anyone give up hope."

August sighed bitterly. "But you already do believe that."

Emma shook her head. "I do. And I see the darkness in everyone in this town. But I already knew about that coming here. The whole world outside here is just the same. It's a hard lesson as a kid, right August?"

August looked at the ground again. Emma looked at Henry. "But when you have started by seeing the bottom and someone comes to show you a better place, that changes things. I can just as easily become the Evil Queen in this realm, once again. But I don't **believe** that I will be. Not this time. Nothing inspires one to be a better person, like their own son or daughter...right Henry?"

This last part was addressed to Henry Sr. because Emma looked upwards again.

_Indeed. Rumplestiltskin and I agreed on that one. It was why I allowed his idea. To give Regina a kid of her own this time around. _

A slight laugh came forth from the walls and they vibrated.

_Someone who has really turned things around, much better then either of us envisioned. We can't see any of your future, Henry, because you are outside of the curse. You were a big risk. And you have surprised us all, Henry Daniel Mills. _

Henry beamed. Emma breathed a sigh of relief. There was a long pause as this settled in. For the first time, since they entered the mines, Emma felt a little less burdened when she breathed.

_The second time...shall i go on? It's not quite as bad._

Emma heavily sighed, but nodded weakly.  
_The second time, you were sent with David. But he soon died of wounds from an attack and you ended up alone. I suggested to Rumplestiltskin that perhaps everyone's memories should disappear too. But this too failed. What wasn't supplied, was filled in on its own, slowly, piece by piece. Rumplestiltskin predicted you would come back on your 28th and you did, even though this time you didn't know why. In fact you merely stumbled into town one night, driving up the highways until you ran out of gas...you had nothing left, no family, no friends, no gas, no money...and you were out of drugs. _

Emma cringed. She almost been down that path this time around when she was bit younger.  
_You decided to throw yourself into the ocean. Regina stopped you. _  
"Of course she did." Emma sighed.  
_But not because she knew that your death would restart things. Your lives both sucked. You had nothing, but miserable childhoods and no friends. You actually became friends. This worked well until you started spending time with Mary Margaret also. You had a connection you couldn't possibly understand. And Regina didn't remember her reasons, but the old animosity remained. Things got ugly. You stole money, you left town. You died of a drug overdose two weeks later. _

Despite her optimism, Emma still felt like this was worse than remembering old wounds. This was finally seeing that your life always sucked, in this life and in previous ones.

No. This was bad thinking, that would get her nowhere.  
She placed her palms against the stone wall, trying to block out the beast, which was becoming increasingly close to the forefront of her mind.

_But the this time, the third time was different. I was almost too tired to put much effort in this time. There is an underlying sadness to this version of Storybrooke. People were given fabricated pasts, but they were vague and fuzzy, their motivations unclear. I told Rumpelstiltskin that he better have a better plan and I left him with his memories. The beast countered by giving Regina's hers as well. She felt like a god against a backdrop of clueless townspeople. But this didn't make her happy either._

_And this time, the Blue Fairy was also brought in to help. Rumpelstiltskin wasn't pleased, but he allowed it. When she learned that she had already lived through this twice, she made a change that I am pleased to say, may have tipped the scales. She had fought Geppetto before over the spot in the tree and both times before she had prevented him from trying to take it. But this time she let him. I don't know why, but it made all the difference. _

"How so? Pinocchio just up and left me alone anyway." Emma muttered her hands still up against the wall. A bit of venom crept into her tone.  
"Oh, please Emma not this again!" August pleaded. "How many times does a man have to apologize for a little boy?"  
_I can answer your question Emma. _Henry Sr. cut off Emma's building rage.  
Emma relaxed slightly out of curiosity.  
_How long do you think Pinocchio lasted? As your guardian? Did he ever tell you?_  
Emma shook her head.  
"8 months." August supplied. "Only 8 months."  
_Ah, but that was 8 months of someone to greet you in the morning, to make funny faces when you cried, to offer to hold you and feed you bottles, who alerted the orphanage attendings to your needs. Am I right, Pinocchio?_  
"I wouldn't change your diaper though. I made them do that." August added, trying to lighten the mood. "Too smelly."  
Emma didn't look up, but she did crack a smile.

_8 whole months of love. From someone who expected nothing of you. Who gave you everything you could possibly need, as best he could. _  
August looked at the ground embarrassed.  
_And even though he left. He gave you the best gift of all. You knew what love was. You had felt it. And you never quite gave up looking for it. You gave up Henry for the very same reason. To ensure that he always felt the same. _

Emma had never looked at it that way before. That those 8 months had been a gift, rather than a betrayal. She looked up at August. He met her gaze slowly. Even in the dim light of his lantern, Emma could see he was crying.  
Her anger melted away. The beast retreated. There was no room for it at the moment. Emma's heart swelled with compassion and love for a stupid little 7 year old boy who somehow become a man. Even if only recently. And had come back for her.

Suddenly she was on him. Kissing him, with greater passion than she had felt in a long time. He was startled, but returned it with just as much force. His tears mixed in with the kiss and Emma was fueled forward. Suddenly she couldn't tell which was up or down and her back was pushed against a wall. There was tongue somewhere and...  
"If this is going to lead to sex, can you at least wait until I'm NOT right here." Henry interrupted his arms crossed.  
Emma opened her eyes and dropped her hands. She blushed as her brain came into focus. Right, Henry.  
August gave an embarrassed smile and then dropped his hands too. "Sorry, kiddo."

"Being 10 is so much easier." Henry sighed. "I'm glad I'm only ten."  
_Actually you're 11._  
"What?" Emma shook her head clearing her thoughts.  
August looked down at his watch. "12:03 am"  
Henry grinned. "I'm 11." Then he frowned. "11." His eyes lost focus.  
Emma gave him a worried look.  
"Well, come on." His eyes came back into focus. "I'm getting older as we speak and all this mess still happening. We need to fix this, hopefully before I'm 12."  
Emma nodded. "I have faith that's doable." She flashed Henry a smile.  
She grabbed August's hand and pulled him along. Henry followed and the three of them began the maze back to the surface.

_Thank you. _


	52. So Close and yet so Far

***  
James opened his eyes. He blinked several times to clear them. Then he groaned. He was lying in Snow's glass coffin, with the lid off. And the only person in the room was Red.  
"Not who you were hoping for, eh?" She joked.  
James moaned and tried to sit up.  
"That was one powerful drug that's wearing off. It's going to throb for awhile." Red added helping him to a sitting position. She handed him a bottle of water.  
James drank it greedily, just now sensing his desert-like mouth. "Where's Snow?"  
Red sighed. "I don't know. Last I saw her, she was standing outside the library with Regina."  
James felt a sense of dread. "Please tell me you didn't wake me to tell me she has gone to the dark side."  
Red shook her head. "Actually, I think Regina and her are once again on the same side. Team Insanity. Fighting the beast inside is necessary sometimes. Trying to destroy it is suicide."  
James frowned. "Why would they try and extract it again? It didn't work before."  
Red sighed. "I don't think they are trying to extract it."  
James frowned. "Well, what then?"  
Red shrugged. "I don't know. But we have other things to worry about as well. Emma, Henry and Pinocchio went into the mines several hours ago and nobody has come back out.

***  
They made it much further on the way back out of the mines, without the beast's interference. But Emma knew that, it leaving them alone, was too good to be true.  
Especially since August was seriously beginning to stumble. With two wooden legs, it was becoming harder and harder to walk over all the rocky terrain.  
Emma was beginning to worry that he wouldn't make it to the surface. Because the two of them, couldn't possibly carry him.  
August tripped and fell.  
"Henry? Maybe we should trade on the necklace. I don't think either of us will be able to carry August if he turns to wood before we get out of here."

Henry nodded. August only weakly protested, but allowed Henry to lock it around his neck.

The three of them began to move again. But not for long.

_Emma opened her eyes again. She was back on the hospital bed. But this time her feet were shackled on it. She swore again. "Let me out of here." But no one came. There was just a glass of water and a cup with a pill. And a note. "I'm not fighting you like last time. Take this and you can get up." _  
_Not real. But this was thought so half-heartedly. Her head was pounding and her body sweaty. A heavy task lay on her shoulders in Storybrooke. Lifetimes of suffering, with an end nowhere in sight. How could she possibly fix such a broken world? Here things were so much simpler. Like a take a pill and feel better..._

_Emma turned and saw August looked at her through the window. Or was it Dr. Booth. "Please just take it. You're so much better when you don't fight us. You were so close to being released. Then you had to stop taking your medication. Don't you want something more then this? A life. Perhaps with me?" _  
_This last part was so raw and pleading. _  
_Emma met his eyes. A doctor and a patient, that was never going to work. Just like a little boy and a baby. _

_Not real._

_But even she didn't want to believe that anymore. The magical world she had seen was suffering and pain. She had been forced to carry a burden she no longer wished to carry. A darkness she wished to erase. _  
_Emma took the pill. _  
_"I'll be back, princess, when it has taken effect." Dr. Booth sighed. "...Thank you." _  
_Emma nodded. Princess. It made her think of Storybrooke. Not real...not..._  
_Emma felt her eyes closing and a heavy drugged sleep fell over her. _

"We're losing her." August moaned, shaking Emma. Despite Emma's weak protests that what she was seeing was not real, she seemed to have sunk even further into her mind.  
Henry grabbed her hand. He closed his eyes. He had an idea. "Give me back the necklace, please."  
August obliged. Henry began to force his own thoughts in her direction. Like he imagined telepathy to be like. That sort of thing worked, right?

Emma appeared to be sleeping at her desk. Henry placed himself in the scene.

**_"Hey!" A voice greeted her. "Don't fall asleep at the desk." _**  
**_Emma opened her eyes. Henry! His hands were on his hips and her feet were on the desk. _**  
**_She quickly stood up. Emma looked around, she was dressed like normal and wearing a sheriff badge. Henry was wearing a backpack and gesturing. "Come on, you said you would walk me to school." _**  
**_Emma nodded. She took his hand. It was warm, but nothing more. His smile was genuine and he looked at her with a sparkle in his eyes. Emma smiled back hesitantly. Did she love him? Was he real? _**  
**_She shook her head. That was a stupid question. Of course he was. And he was the best possible thing that could have happened to her. _**  
**_They walked outside together. _**  
**_Emma was still in her thoughts, however. She turned and stopped. "What?" Henry asked. _**  
**_Emma hugged him tightly. Nothing. _**  
**_"This isn't real. I should feel something." Emma protested. _**

" I lost her." Henry groaned. "How am I supposed to know what my hugs feel like to you, mom?" He closed his eyes and tried to re-enter. But she was awake now in her mind, not dreaming. If he just popped into the scene here, clearly she would see the flaw in the logic, right?

_Emma opened her eyes. There was the little boy again. Henry. He looked just like she imagined he would. Unfortunately. A bit more like his father then she would have hoped. But he seemed kinder and honest in the eyes. _  
_"Hey!" Henry smiled. _  
_Emma frowned. She looked around. A mental ward. He shouldn't be here. She shouldn't be here. Maybe she really was crazy. _  
_"I'm here to rescue you. Bring you back to Storybrooke. We need to get out of the mines. But first you need to let go of this vision. You're not crazy. I'm real."_  
_Emma sighed. "Of course, you are real, kiddo. Just not right now. Not here. You are living somewhere far away, probably getting ready for a birthday party."_  
_Henry shook his head. "Not without you. It wouldn't be a party without you."_  
_Emma smiled. "You are just like I imagined you'd be. Smart, stubborn and charming. But kind." _  
_She was crazy, but she was going to be free of this. Maybe one day, she would get to meet him...no. That was crazy talk._  
_"Have a cupcake for me, okay?" Emma added her voice sounding strained. "I always bought one for my birthday, every year. And a chocolate one on yours, I figured you like chocolate best." _  
_Henry paled. She remembered him every year. She had never told him that before. _

_"It was hard. Deciding to give you up. But it was the best thing for you. I couldn't be a mother, what kind of life would that have been for you, roaming the roads, no home, no family, I didn't even have a high school degree, often times no money?"_

_It sounded like she was giving him up, all over again. "I do like chocolate best. With cinnamon. Remember?" Henry's voice was desperate. "Just like you." _  
_Emma wearily smiled. "I always bought a white cupcake for my birthday. White like a swan. Because that was what I wanted to be." _  
_"You can be, you are. A real one." Henry protested. _  
_Emma shook her head. _  
_"That's crazy talk, kiddo. Now go enjoy your life." Emma flipped over in the bed. _  
_Henry felt himself fading out. He was being pushed out._

"Dammit." He screamed, pounded the wall of the mines. They rumbled in response.  
August grabbed him and held him.  
"She is giving me up all over again." He sobbed into his chest. "I fail." A slow energy drain seemed to follow each sob. That seemed unusual and frightening. Henry blinked.  
"Oh, no!"  
"What?" August panicked.  
Henry tried to stand, but he tripped, his vision shifting.  
"No, no, no..." He muttered.  
"Not you too, kiddo." August grabbed him.  
Henry shook his head. "No, not the Beast. I'm dying."  
"What?" August's eyes grew wide.  
"The bought allegiance. I swore. I was commanded not to swear and I forgot. I broke Regina's only command and now I'm dying."  
August began to pant. Henry did look weaker and his voice weary.  
"Can we fix it?"  
"I don't know. Regina might be able to." Henry muttered.  
August turned from one to the other. Emma to Henry and back. He couldn't carry Emma, not in his weakened state. But maybe he could save Henry.  
August fiercely grabbed Emma's hand. "I'm coming back for you. You hear me. If it is the last thing I do, I will find you."  
Emma made no response, but her breathing seemed calmer.  
August picked up Henry. God, he was heavy. No longer really little anymore.  
And he stumbled towards the exit. So close yet so far.

***  
Regina had been hoping to run into Nova, but she was not hoping for what else that would bring. Nova had not been difficult to locate and Regina soon knew why. Her magical energies were flurried and anxious and Regina found her inside of Rumplstiltskin's kitchen. Standing over a blade. His blade.  
Her eyes were closed and she was slowly backing away from the table. She fluttered them open, sensing Regina's entrance.  
"Don't come any closer, Regina!" She yelled with more force than Regina had ever seen.  
"Is that it?" Regina asked.  
Nova didn't answer. Her eyes widened though.  
Regina turned her head.  
Snow had entered the room.  
And she had seen the knife.  
"Oh, my God." Snow whispered.  
Nova took a deep breath. "Back up slowly and stop looking at it. It helps if your eyes are closed. We don't want to do anything foolish. We just need to leave quickly."  
Regina frowned. "We are just going to leave it lying here?"  
"Yes. Rumpelstiltskin will be back soon, I'm sure. He will hide it again and we can all pretend we were never here." Nova trembled.  
Snow bent over and picked up a chess piece on the floor. It was a knight. It was white. White, white. "Was it inside of the chess board?" She gestured to the open wooden box across the room.  
Nova nodded. "Belle ran off with most of the pieces in her pockets. It was really trying hard to draw her in. She fled pretty quickly."  
Snow nodded. She flipped the piece to see the bottom. In elegant script, a name was carved, but a knife mark had been scratched across it. It was still legible though. Snow's lip trembled slightly. Regina grabbed the piece from her hand.

_Daniel._

Regina closed her eyes. She had always known, that Rumpelstiltskin never did anything that didn't aid him somehow. That she had been played over and over again. But a new fury arose in her. Somehow, this was proof that Daniel had been part of Rumplestiltskin's plot from the beginning. And he had suffered and died.  
"Rumplestiltskin will lie and sneak around no more. I will have the truth, the whole truth. If I have to force it from him." Regina snarled. She clenched her hand around the piece. In an instant, her other hand was wrapping itself around the hilt of the blade.  
"Regina!" Snow gasped. She tried to approach her. "I know you are angry, which is exactly why you should put that down."  
Regina pointed it at her. "Just try and stop me." And voice was raw and deep. Snow sighed. Lifting a hand, she magically threw Regina back against the table. The table broke, but Regina was unharmed. However, the knife left her hand.  
Regina flung Snow backwards, knocking pictures off the wall.  
"You can't willfully harm me. This fight is petty and a waste of time." Regina sneered and reached for the knife on the floor again.  
Snow lunged for her, a long forgotten fight move, surfacing. Regina flung her back with magic against the cabinets. A cut formed on Snow's arm, but it sealed itself, leaving only dried blood.

Snow stood. "I know, I'm not trying to harm you though. I just can't let you leave with that."  
Regina smiled. She grabbed Nova's arm. "But you will. Because you care about Natalie here and therefore I can easily win this fight." She pointed the knife at Nova's throat.  
Nova trembled.  
Snow swore and closed her eyes, briefly trying to think. She opened them again, trying to hide her fear. "Please, Regina let's think this through. What good will this do?"  
"Nothing. But I'll get burned either way, good or bad. So why should I care anymore?" Regina growled.  
"That's the Beast's sort of thinking." Nova whispered. Regina narrowed her eyes and pushed the knife up against Nova's throat.  
Nova's magic crackled as she closed her eyes too. But nothing impressive happened.  
Regina laughed, a strange bitter cackle. "That's it?"  
She was about to say something else, when her cell rang. Or rather Mary Margaret's cell with Regina's sim card in it. The cell that was in her pocket.  
"Are you going to answer that? Might be someone important to you." Snow deadpanned.  
Regina raised an eyebrow.  
The only person at this point, who would be calling her would be... Henry.  
Regina released the knife from Nova's throat and pushed Nova up against the wall. She picked up the phone from her pocket.  
"Who is this?"  
Silence.  
"Henry, are you there? That didn't sound like you."  
Time seemed to freeze. Snow had to remember to breath.  
"What? What's going on? Where are you?" Regina began to sound anxious. Her focus shifted. Nova fell to the floor.  
Regina disappeared in a puff of magic.

Snow jumped to Nova. "Are you okay?"  
Nova nodded slowly. She fingered the thin burn on her neck where the knife had touched it.  
Snow sighed. "I can't do it. I've tried. We do nothing, but destroy each other, despite our best attempts."  
Nova frowned. She pointed to the door.  
"Go. Follow her."  
Snow frowned.  
Nova massaged her neck and her arm. "You're right. You can't save her. But Henry can."  
She met Snow's eyes, with a look of intensity.  
"Go make sure he's able."**  
**


	53. The best someone like me could offer

Nope, Minorshan, I hadn't thought of the hide and seek thing, actually. It is a cute idea though. And most certainly a family trait... It was merely the ultimate act of redemption and growth, mostly for Jefferson. The man who wanted nothing more then to forget and start over, had to endure remembering once more, knowing he had go backwards to live a life already planned out and make the most of it. But this time he got his daughter, his saving Grace.

***  
August stumbled up into the light and out of the mines. He fumbled reaching for his cell phone in his pocket. But his wooden fingers couldn't push the buttons. He swore.  
"Henry, please open your eyes, I need you to push a few buttons." August pleaded.  
Henry's eyes fluttered. He didn't say anything, but he took the phone.  
"Just dial Regina's number, my fingers are made of wood." August requested. His voice was becoming harsh too, but he might last a phone call.  
Henry's fingers ran over the buttons with ease, the number so ingrained into his mind over the years. August dropped to his knees with a thud. He fell forward with Henry as his lungs began to constrict.  
The phone rang and a sharp, "Who is this?" from Regina met his ears.  
"Help us..." August rasped. "Henry."  
"Henry are you there?" Regina asked worried. "That didn't sound like you."  
Henry shifted in August's wooden arms.  
"Yes." Henry weakly muttered. "Release me...please."  
"What?" Regina's voice cracked. "What's going on, where are you?"  
"The mines." Henry whispered.

In a rush of wind, Regina was there, trails of dark magic leaving behind her. She took one look from a nearly wooden August to a very pale Henry and dropped to her knees in the dirt beside them.  
Moments later, a tense looking Snow appeared in the spot Regina had dropped into.

"What happened?" Regina anxiously inquired.  
"You did this." August muttered.  
Regina was about to get defensive when Henry interrupted. "You told me not to swear." He coughed weakly. "And I forgot."  
Regina paled. "Fairies...my command."  
Henry had disobeyed her command. And now he was dying.  
"Oh, God, I'm so sorry Henry, I release you from all of my commands." Regina sputtered.  
A wind passed over them, but Henry didn't look any less pale.  
It wasn't working. The deed was already done.  
"Rumplestiltskin!" Regina yelled at the sky.  
The manikin appeared quickly upon command.  
He surveyed the scene and looked to Regina. "Yes?"  
"Fix this. How do I fix this? I already tried releasing him from any commands." Regina demanded.  
Rumpelstiltskin shook his head. "His allegiance was bought and he broke a command. This is what is supposed to happen."  
Regina stood and grabbed Rumpelstiltskin by the neck. "I know how to kill you. Tell me how to reverse this." Regina reached into her inside jacket pocket and flashed him a glimpse of his dagger. "Or I will do it myself."  
If Rumpelstiltskin had wondered how she got the knife, he didn't show it. Just a faint glimmer of fear passed before his eyes. "You aren't going to like it."  
"Tell me." Regina growled touching the handle of the knife.  
Rumpelstiltskin sighed. She had commanded him. "If you owe your allegiance to a duke or a lord, when are you released from their command?"  
Regina frowned. "Never, your allegiance goes to his son, upon his death."  
"Precisely." Rumpelstiltskin solemnly met her fierce gaze.

Snow understood first. "Henry is your son. He would be a free man upon your...demise."  
Rumpelstiltskin would have cackled here, but he for once didn't feel like laughing. Here he had made what he hoped would be his last deal, ending in what looked to be redemption, but here just hours later, destruction was still upon them. "She's right. That is the only way. Unfortunately, so."

Regina gave a terrible scream. "There is never only one option." She reached in for the knife. Holding it entirely in her hand again a shiver came over her. Rumplestiltskin watched as a cold unfeeling harshness set in her eyes, one that had been missing for many years now, a look that with Henry around had never quite returned, until now. "You could die." Regina hissed and made to stab Rumpelstiltskin with the knife.  
Snow gasped. "No!" She ran towards her, but Regina quickly shoved her back with magic.  
But it was enough of a distraction.  
"Drop the knife, Regina. Please." Rumpelstiltskin trembled as the knife came way too close for comfort.  
Regina dropped the knife, since she was obligated to. He had said please.  
The moment it left her hand, Regina shuddered. She kicked it and dropped to her knees. She covered her face with her hands, trying to compose herself.  
Only the sounds of August's ragged breathing could be heard over the following tense silence. Henry was frozen in his arms, fear and shock in his eyes.

"And that was why I asked for that part of our deal from the beginning. I learned the hard way before, with your mother. Just holding that dagger, makes you think crazy. I should know." Rumpelstiltskin gave a grim smile, breaking the silence. "And no one deserves to be me."  
Regina began to breath again, taking in quick, shallow breaths. "Oh, God." She paled realizing how close she had come to really losing everything. By becoming her enemy. By becoming the Dark One.  
"Why did you bring dark magic back, you miserable little man? Why would you have wanted the Beast back?" Regina sobbed quietly. "What did I ever do, to deserve this? Why couldn't you have just let us be. My mother, me, Daniel." She pulled out the knight from her pocket.

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head. "As for the Beast, it has always been there and here. It exists as long as we do. It is the living representation of our collective darkness. And I didn't just bring back magic. I brought it back with the most powerful kind of all. True Love. The balance around here is heavily weighted in that direction now. The Beast is the weakest it has ever been, right now." He bent down and tenderly stroked Regina's face.  
Regina refused to meet his eyes."But let us not forget, my dear, that you agreed to every deal I offered. You even sought me out for additional mischief." Regina glared coldly.  
Rumpelstiltskin softened his approach. " But you are right. You didn't deserve any of this. You deserve so much more than this. But this is the best that someone like me could offer. An eternity of do-overs, chances to get it right." There was a sadness that Regina had never noticed before in his voice. "A perfect salvation or an endless hell of mistakes."

Henry reached out again, his eyes wide, but his gaze becoming blurry. "Mom?"  
Regina's focus shifted back to him again, at the use of this word. The beautiful word that had been gone too long from his mouth. Regina pulled herself out of self pity. True Love. That is what everyone claimed was the strongest magic. Regina needed it so desperately to be true.  
Regina sank down to her knees again, crawling towards him. She stroked his hair from his face. She hesitated for a moment and then with a gentle touch, she kissed his forehead.

Nothing.

Regina gave a heavy sigh, too empty to even cry at this point. "Guess you were right and I was wrong." She closed her eyes. "I'm sorry my best wasn't enough. I'm sorry I couldn't truly love you. I did after all know, that coming here would leave me with a void that could never be filled. The eternal price of magic."

Henry's eyes fluttered, but nothing came out of his open mouth, but the sound of forceful breathing.  
Regina turned her face towards Snow. Tears were in Snow's eyes. And a magical apple was in her hand.  
Regina stifled a bitter laugh. "You know. You know that you will go down with me and you come bearing the apple."  
Snow met her eyes and gave a weak smile. "Guess you will have two victories for the effort of one. Henry is spared and you will get what you have always wanted, even if you won't be around to enjoy it. My death." She held out the apple.  
Regina accepted it. It was a deep sleep of death. Peace and release. Much kinder than she had been to Snow. No nightmares, no tormented visions of the future or the past. Just death.  
Snow then handed her another chess knight from her pocket. This one was a weak, pale shade of grey. David.  
Regina gave a weak laugh. Everyone was a pawn. Everyone was a playing piece. She was no one special.

"Indeed. But ironically, at the moment that I no longer want it." Regina gave weak, dry laugh. "But the Beast has gotten what it wanted. A world where the only happy ending, is its happy ending."  
"I'm... truly sorry, Snow." Regina's voice cracked. "You were just a stupid little girl."  
Snow sadly smiled. "So were you."  
Regina stared long and hard into Snow White's eyes. Finding only kindness and deep sorrow, she took a bite of the apple.  
Instantly, pain took her and a deep sleep washed it away, her mind sinking into emptiness and darkness. Magic seeped out of her as quickly as air left her lungs. A weight was lifted and a slight smile graced her lips. Free!

And then nothing more.

There was a moan from Snow as the magic began to leave her too. And Henry gasped a deep breath of air and his eyes flew open. Color came back into his cheeks again. Just as slowly as it was leaving Snow's.

"No!" Henry began to sob. His head spun as his energy returned to him slowly. August's completely wooden form was still holding him. Regina was dead and her kiss hadn't worked. Emma was stuck in the mines, alone, and he had no memory of how to get to her. James was dead and Snow White was dying.

Snow crawled weakly over towards Henry and laid down beside him. "Shh... it's okay. You're okay. This is how it had to end between us."  
Henry shook his head. "This can't be the end." He sobbed. "I have no one. No one. I'm all alone."

"No, your not." A familiar voice caused Henry to open his eyes.  
Red and James stood bent over, trying to catch their breaths.  
"I knew it. I didn't feel the old darkness in her heart. I knew she didn't kill you." Snow whispered softly.  
"Oh, Snow. What have you done?" James sobbed. He dropped to his knees at her side.  
"Saved Henry. Regina had to die to save Henry." Snow rasped. "And our fates have always been linked. This was how it had to end."  
Her very image was fading away, like white snow melting away. "I'm just sorry that you really are alive. That you have to suffer alone, without me, now."  
"Find Emma. And take care of her and Henry. And each other." Snow gasped softly, looking between them.  
"Shut up." Red growled.  
Snow smiled. She turned to James. And faded away.  
"I love you." The wind seemed to whisper with the sound of her voice.  
"Always." James choked.

When the image cleared away, there was nothing, but a magical beating heart where Snow White had once laid.

James stared at it, making no sound, his eyes glassy and unfocused.  
Rumpelstiltskin silently handed Red a box.  
Red picked up the heart and placed it in the box. Tenderly, she touched James' shoulder, trying to stir him to some sort of life.  
"Henry." She whispered. "Henry needs you."  
James's eyes fluttered in focus. He turned and grabbed Henry up from inside of the lifeless wooden August's arms.

Silently, he stood and carried the sobbing Henry away from the scene. Red followed behind him, holding the box.  
Rumpelstiltskin used his magic to transport himself and Regina's body elsewhere. Laying her in own bed in her manor home, she looked every inch a bewitched princess. So broken and yet still so beautiful, when she was asleep. As though nothing was wrong, as though she was just waiting for her lover to rescue her.  
Rumpelstiltskin sadly and somberly pulled the sheets up around her.  
Except if she hadn't loved Henry, truly loved Henry, then there would be no one to save her. Rumpelstiltskin was so sure that she had. How could he have been so wrong?  
About everything?


	54. Strength through Weakness

***  
Gepetto was sitting at his workbench, his parents sleeping. But his conscience was too weighed down to sleep. He had failed them over and over. And they just didn't know it yet. They were supposed to have raised him to use his talents wisely. Gepetto was sure that nothing he had done in the last 60 years had been wise.

Two figures were approaching in the distance carrying something in a blanket. Gepetto looked up and stood. In the beam of his porchlight, he could see that it was two of the dwarves, Doc and Sneezy.  
And in the blanket between them, was Pinocchio. A very wooden Pinocchio. Gepetto put his fist to his mouth to muffle a cry.  
Doc gently set down the blanket on an empty workbench. Gepetto hadn't felt much like carving recently.  
Geppetto stood wordlessly staring at further proof of his eternal failure.  
"He was brave and honest and he died a man." Doc offered. "He carried Henry all the way out of the mines, to save his life. Even as the Black Diamond took away the magic that made him real, he kept walking."  
Gepetto nodded to show he had heard him, but he couldn't form any sort of thought.  
He merely just sunk to his knees and sobbed.

Doc bowed slightly. "Jiminy is on his way. We had Dopey wake him." He sighed. "We must get our rest. Tomorrow, well, in a few hours really, a group of us are headed out to rescue Emma. We need our rest if we are to stay strong against the darkness. We hope that you will join us."  
Gepetto said nothing, just continued to sob.  
Doc bowed out and Sneezy nervously following, glancing back at Gepetto one last time.

Gepetto sobbed until he had not only woken his parents, but Jiminy had arrived 10 minutes later, running at full speed, his dog on a leash and a flashlight in his hand.

Gepetto's parents said nothing at seeing Jiminy, seeing that he was comforting their grown son.  
They just stood and watched from the doorway.  
"Rumplestiltskin was right, a little piece of wood, could form a real heart." Gepetto sobbed. " And he was a much better man, than me."  
Gepetto held his son's wooden hand. "I'm sorry I failed you as a father. I was selfish, cowardly and dishonest. I made you as a boy, try to do a man's job."

"You gave him a purpose." Jiminy offered. "A purpose to strive for. Someone to care for, to love."  
Gepetto shook his head. "I gave him what I had hated you for years for. The loss of my parents. I flung him from my arms, to raise not only himself, but a little baby. He was only 7. No wonder he hated me. I wasn't dead. To him, I as good as abandoned him on the side of the road with Emma."

"I don't think he hated you." Jiminy consoled him.  
Gepetto shook his head. "Why wouldn't he?" He wiped tears from his face.  
"Because he did what you asked. Not only as a boy, but as a man. He came back here, for Emma." Jiminy offered.

"He was turning back into wood. He came back for himself." Gepetto contested sadly.

There was a long silence.

Gepetto's mother was the first to speak. "Then who did he rescue the little boy for?"  
Gepetto turned to look at her. There was only love in her eyes.  
She came up her grown son and embraced him, an old man in a young woman's arms.  
"I could see you." She murmured.  
Gepetto looked up at her curiously, like a little boy. "What?"  
"I could see you, the whole time. My eyes were wooden, but I could see you. My ears were wooden, but I could hear you. At first, I was angry that I couldn't interact with you. That you couldn't know I was there still. But you talked to us, like we could hear and see. Like we were real. And my heart couldn't grow bitter. My wooden heart that was still there, that could still feel." Gepetto's mother gave a somber smile.  
"You tried to show us these past few days, what you thought we wanted to see. But we know you, Gepetto. We were still there. You've made mistakes, sure. But everyone does. Parents or no parents."  
Gepetto's father added to that. "Once you are real, you are always real. Somewhere. You can't take that away. Talk to him. He can't talk back, but he is there."

Gepetto's eyes filled with soothing tears. He turned back towards Pinocchio. He pulled back the ripped and sooty T-shirt underneath his motorcycle jacket. He traced his fingers along the carved heart shape on his chest, right above where a real heart would reside.  
"I have magic, Pinocchio. I was a little boy, placed in a home from birth. A home where my magic would be trained to be used for good. As a boy, I couldn't be a fairy. So I was to be taught a trade. I enjoyed working with my hands, carving wood. But I didn't create sculptures and clocks, or even puppets. I transformed things. Never created. You can't create things. One person can't change the world on their own. You can't have life without a second person. I carved you, because I wanted a son. I talked to you for years, as though you were real. But nothing. I had hoped that being made of magical wood, that this would make a difference, but nothing. "

Gepetto paused and collected himself. He wiped away a few tears from his face on his sleeve. "But one day, something did. A young woman had come into my shop. She had requested my, more devious services. As a puppetmaster. She had little to no money, just a magical cloak. She wanted a puppet. I asked for her cloak as payment and she blanched. She told me it was the only thing keeping her a decent person. It wasn't for sale. She was afraid and depressed. She even offered to help deliver things to pay for it."

"She wanted a wolf puppet. I told her that she would have to paint it with the blood of the wolf she wished to control. She wanted it painted in her own blood. I understood then. She was a wolf. She didn't want to control someone else, she wanted to control herself. I gave it to her free of charge. I even helped her paint it. It was the first time I felt like my puppets were serving a greater purpose. That night, I carved this heart into your chest. Because every little boy, needs a heart, I told you."  
"That is what makes them men." A rough, gritty sound finished his sentence.  
Gepetto eyes' widened. He looked up into his son's face. It was still wooden, but the eyes were moving slowly, looking around. His mouth was open, and turned into a still smile.  
"I promised her...father. I promised her I would come back for her." Pinocchio scraped out slowly.  
"And you shall not go back on your word. I swear it." Gepetto jumped into action. He began rummaging through his work space.

"I love her, Jiminy." August forced out. "Her and that little boy."  
Jiminy Cricket smiled broadly. "I know."  
August's eyes stared at him silently, urgently asking what he needed to know.  
"Henry is alive." Jiminy sighed. "But he is very wounded. He has lost a lot tonight."

Gepetto emerged carrying a thin wooden box. "I swore when you became real, that I would never use this, but with your permission, I think we can rescue Emma." He opened the box and inside it was two overlapping wooden crosses with strings attached. A lifted in from the box and opened it up letting the detached strings dangle. He tilted the cross back and August shot upright.

"Scary isn't it." Gepetto sighed seeing the panic in Pinocchio's eyes. "This is the kind of power that I once used against kings and thieves alike. This one belongs to you. It only works on you. But if we work together." He gestured to everyone present. "The Heart of Darkness can't mess with all of us."Gepetto placed the wooden controls down in Pinocchio's hands. Their eyes met each other and very slowly August moved his arms, placing the controls back into his father's hands. "You better do a lot better job this time." He rasped.  
Gepetto tearfully nodded.

A rustle from the bushes, caused everyone but Pinocchio to turn their head sharply.

It was Red. She was holding a puppet. A wolf puppet. "Granny is watching Henry and James. I heard someone needed help. Henry said the pathways kept changing, that he didn't know how to find Emma again. So I guess you're going to need someone with a good Sense of direction." Red somberly smiled at this and held out the wolf puppet.  
"Tomorrow evening is the next full moon. I know you hated being the puppetmaster in battle. But, this gave me purpose once. Please let me do something good again." Red closed her eyes.

Jiminy wrapped his arm around her side and pulled her towards the group. "You, Rose, already have done a lot of good."

Rumplestiltskin entered the chapel. It was over. He had made his one last deal and now the beast was going to destroy him. He had screwed the beast over, every which way, just as he had always imagined, but just not quite the way that he had planned to. And his failings and mistakes were going to haunt him forever.

He had lost Belle, who was so angry with him, that she had refused to acknowledge his existence. He had seen her with a suitcase, walking for the boundaries. She was leaving town now that the Blue Fairy had died and the boundaries were down. Since another one hadn't been chosen yet, this gave her a window and it seemed she was taking it.

He had lost Snow. No physical form left, just a heart. The fact that this made her still alive at all, was not another indicator of her strength of character, just additional torment for those who cared about her.

He had lost Regina too. Sure, she had her one moment of redemption, sacrificing her powers and her remaining life, to spare Henry. An ironic end, to eat an apple like the one which she had offered to Snow once before. Poetic maybe. But there was no one to save her, as there had been for Snow. No true love to awaken her.

Even Emma seemed to be lost. She hadn't ever emerged from the mines and since the beast was very weakened now, but not gone, Rumplestiltskin was sure that she would never emerge. Even though she owned her heart once again, and the beast didn't have claim to her, all it had to do was wrap her in illusions and she would spend the rest of her days down there, unaware what she had lost. It was the beast's one victory. Rumpelstiltskin, who could never enter the mines, would be unable to start things over again.

Henry was mostly alone now, only a broken grandfather to hold him and console him. Henry would fall too. So much loss, there was no way Rumplestiltskin could see him recovering. He would be just like his own son, who had lost a father and a whole world in one instant. A grown man now, who couldn't have possibly turned out well, who was likely to never see his father again. Because his father couldn't say that appearing in his life now, still with magical powers, having destroyed a whole world to get to him, would help him at all.

Rumplestiltskin stared up at the bloody cross that used to bother him so much. He used to hate the idea of suffering being ideal and redemption coming at a high cost. It still did bother him, just not in the same way now. Now that he had greatly suffered, it still didn't feel ideal, but it also still didn't feel enough. He began to weep, loudly. "I give up. You hear me. Whoever, whatever, anybody. I give up. I can't fix it."

The earth seemed to shake below him. Rumplestiltskin grabbed the ground and braced himself. It shook harder than ever before. As it came to a stop, the world around him still trembling, Rumplestiltskin heard a voice.  
"You're right. You fail. I told you, you would." A sinister voice came from the back of the room.  
Rumplestiltskin turned around and stood. It was Cora. And she was holding a very familiar, crooked dagger. Once again, Rumpelstiltskin was shocked. Seriously, how did they do it?  
"You are lucky though. You are about to be relieved of your position." She held the dagger high and lunged at him knocking him to the ground. "Now don't try to escape, Dark One." It was a command. One he couldn't disobey.

Rumplestiltskin's very, very long life, flashed before his eyes. His one and only regret was that this was happening at all. This was not how he saw things ending. Everything had changed. But why?  
He looked up into the eyes of his attacker. Cora, his descendent, who was to take his place.  
The knife centimeters from his chest.  
She had stopped.  
Sweat was pouring down her face, dripping onto Rumplestiltskin's face. Cora looked pained, like she was holding back an ocean, by sheer force.  
A fragile, whimper was heard over the panting. Not from Cora, who still loomed over him, but from the mirror. The mirror that Rumplestiltskin had done everything in his power, not to look at since he came into the chapel. He had been too afraid to see what it showed him about his own heart.

Painfully, Rumplestiltskin followed Cora's gaze to the mirror. He was below the mirror and not visible. But there were two people in the mirror. A dark shadowy mist seemed to surround both figures. One was clearly Queen Margaret or Maggie, just as he remembered her. Regal and sad. But she was also ill looking and very angry.  
At her feet, however was a little girl. One that looked very much like a five year old Cora. It probably was. She was weeping and pulling on Maggie's robes.  
"Please," Young Cora was whimpering. "I haven't the strength."  
The knife was wavering dangerously close to Rumplestiltskin's chest. He swallowed nervously.  
"Help me, just this once, Maggie. I know you're angry with me, you have every right to be."  
"Do you know what you are asking of me?" Maggie weakly protested. "What you are going to be doing?"  
Young Cora nodded sadly. "I have known for a long time. This is how it must end for us. I could never have done what needed to be done, alone. It was why I bargained for your heart in the first place."  
"It must be the thing you love the most." Maggie muttered.  
"And I hate myself." Cora growled from the ground, knife wavering.  
Then there was a great sigh from Maggie. But it was a sigh of acceptance. Of resignation that there was no other, whiter path left. Only the endless opportunities for more darkness.

Suddenly, the knife began to move again. But instead of continuing its path towards Rumplestiltskin's chest, it turned and sharply changed directions.

The knife, which would have made Cora the next Dark One, was now plunged into her own chest. The blood dripped down onto Rumplestiltskin's face. The beast roared in anger, a violent and terrible growl, angrier than Rumplestiltskin had ever heard, ever. The mist retreated from the mirror and the heaviness from the room.  
A pained, but satisfied look came over Cora's face. With her last bit of strength, she flipped to her back and laid beside Rumplestiltskin, the knife still in her chest. Cora ripped the knife from her chest, gasping hard her breathing labored. She reached into her robes and pulled out a slightly spattered envelope that read Regina on the front, and handed it to Rumplestiltskin. She tried to say something, but blood came out of her mouth instead.

So the sobbing little girl in the mirror spoke. "I'm so sorry. I should have never made that deal with that Dark Fairy."  
Rumplestiltskin nodded wiping his face with his hand. "So am I. Things got out of hand." He took the bloody dagger from Cora's hand.  
The light was fading from Cora's eyes. But a smile was settling on her face.  
"Please tell Regina that I'm sorry too." Little Cora added. "That love is weakness. And that I was just too weak."  
Rumplestiltskin nodded. She must not know. And Rumplestiltskin was still too cowardly to tell her. Tell her that her daughter was dead, likely permanently, trapped in her own body. "When she is ready to hear it."  
Maggie gave Rumplestiltskin what looked like a warning glare, but did not challenge this statement.

Rumplestiltskin frowned however. "Wait, how did you get there, Maggie?" Something had clicked in his mind which was spinning. "How are you in the mirror?"  
Maggie met his eyes. "I'm in Cora."  
Rumplestiltskin frowned. "Yes, but how? Cora never had the ability to do that, to put your heart in her chest."  
Maggie smiled gently. "No, but Emma does."

Rumplestiltskin grinned. That had not happened in the future he saw. That is what had changed. He started to plan how to work around this new change. Maybe things could still work out. He tried gazing into the future. Nothing.  
He frowned. He tried a simple spell, an illusion spell. Nothing.  
He picked up the bloody dagger on the ground.  
He feverishly wiped the blood off with his hand. It was blank.

His eyes widened. He was free. No magic, no darkness. Rumpelstiltskin was a tad disappointed. He had expected something epic, something earth shattering. But he didn't feel any different. Just empty of the ability or the thrall to do magic.  
His eyes met Maggie's. "It's gone. Everything."  
"Cora swore she would destroy you. You just didn't quite envision it this way, did you?"  
Rumplestiltskin stared back up at the crucifix. It was that simple? Someone had to die. Not out of anger, or greed, but out of sacrifice? Sure it wasn't the most noble of sacrifices, but he was not the most noble of men, so what did it matter?

"No more meddling. Let the townspeople work together on this one." Maggie glared. "You'll see."

"I'm scared." The young Cora in the mirror spoke again. She was trembling visibly and she was fading away. But she looked a bit older, maybe 7.  
Maggie gentled reached down and picked her up. "Me too. But we will await whatever justice shall come to us, together."  
The two of them faded away slowly as Cora's body breathed its last.  
And Rumpelstiltskin, the man, stood up and saw nothing in the mirror, but his own reflection.


	55. Amen, sister

***  
Nova and Grumpy waited outside the mines. The news of what had happened to Snow and Regina had spread like wildfire. The townspeople who had previously been hiding away in fear, were all now out of their homes, most of them furiously combing Storybrooke.

It seemed that hours before, Henry had fallen asleep in his grandfather's arms, but his grandfather had awoken later to discover that Henry had fled. He had already been missing for several hours since then, almost 12. Granny who was shocked that he had managed to slip out of the locked jail cell and past her post at the sheriff's desk had ran furiously woken as many people as could, to help her search. She hadn't fallen asleep she told Red, she knew she hadn't.  
When Ella asked if he had any magical powers, Granny had blinked. She hadn't thought of that. She knew that some children don't show up with magical powers until later, as adolescence and/or tons of stress become part of the picture.  
While this made her feel a bit less guilty for losing track of him, this didn't make her feel any better. Surely, a loss this enormous for Henry would make any fledgling dormant magic, turn to darkness rather than goodness.  
Ella and Thomas began to assemble as many bodies as they could to find him. Soon more than half the town was up looking for the one person that they all had no qualms with, the one person that had brought them Emma and had been kind and loving to everyone.

The rest of the dwarves had gone down into the mine together. Grumpy had stayed at the top. He had a clearly defined weakness, which he knew the beast would manipulate. And it was standing right next to him. They agreed to stay up top in case Henry wasn't already in the mines, but headed for them.  
Grumpy was also watching the end of the cord that they had used to find their way back, to make sure no one disturbed it.

Nova seemed deep in thought. Her gaze was on the field around them, but her eyes showed that she was looking inward.  
"I just let her go." She muttered.  
"Who?" Grumpy asked patiently.  
"Belle." Nova sighed. "I let her leave. Because I didn't want to stop her."

Grumpy shrugged. He didn't see what the issue was. He would have let her leave too.  
"I didn't want to stop her. Me. I didn't think about what was or wasn't good for her, I was thinking about me." Nova clarified. "I didn't want to be the one that stopped her from leaving."

Grumpy nodded in understanding. "Because you would have to be the Blue Fairy to do that."

Nova closed her eyes and tear fell down her cheek. Grumpy internally sighed. He wiped it away without thought. He hated to see her sad. "I know that Gertrude was only trying to protect us. That an early break, would keep things from getting out of hand. But I couldn't give up on us. I said that I understood, why we couldn't be together, but I never really let go of the idea. Until now."  
Grumpy frowned slightly. "Why now?"

Nova sighed. "Because she was right. Being a fairy isn't about our own happiness. It isn't even about happiness. There are a lot of happy people who are out destroying the world. There are a lot of loving people who are sad or miserable. Snow had true love, real, perfectly-returned-love. But she is dead. James is on the verge of mental breakdown looking for Henry, and who knows whether Emma, even if we find her body and bring it to the surface, will ever be mentally stable again? And that is just one part of one family. There have been too many mistakes made, because people didn't think things through. Too many decisions were based solely on love."

Grumpy closed his eyes. She was ending things. Ending at least, what had never been, but could have been. That which bubbled at the surface, like lava, waiting to take erupt at the slightest indication that it was wanted.  
He was pissed. Not because she was letting go of that possibility, but because of why.

"All decisions must be based on love or what is there?" He growled. "Contempt, hatred, vengeance, lust, greed, pride?"

Nova sought to defend herself. But Grumpy cut her off with a kiss. Their first kiss. Nova felt her entire being quiver. There was nothing else like it, no joy ever so great, no sorrow ever deep, no hope ever brighter. Like the universe had turned underneath her and she was peacefully falling.  
He opened his eyes as he pulled back. His eyes reflected back what she was feeling.  
Nova's mind began to spin back into focus. She grabbed his jaw and pulled him into another kiss. The spark was back again, but it was short lived because he pulled out quickly.

"No." His voice was raw and husky.

Nova opened her eyes. When had she closed them? "What?"

"You are right. To end this. I just wanted to make sure you understood that giving up, Us, wasn't giving up love. I will love you, Nova, until the day I die." Grumpy turned her chin, so she gazed into his eyes. "But you must be the Blue Fairy. Because you don't want it, because you need it."

He sighed. "What you feel for me, that intense, universe tilting feeling...you must love the whole world that way. You must never lose Natalie. That part of you that was willing to die to save someone you cared about. But the whole world must be your love, your friend, your children. As long as you love this town and its people, as you love me, then we will have so many children, that we will never be able to keep track of all of them. Every Henry, will be our Henry." Grumpy's voice shook.

Nova sobbed. "Every Snow White, will be our Snow."  
Grumpy smiled and embraced her. Even being this close to him again, set her heart racing. Her hold on the world was still stable, but there was love in her soul. She could feel his heart racing against hers as well. She smiled as he broke their embrace.  
"Amen, sister."

And in that moment, she loved him even more, than ever before.

There was a pull on the line as the 6 remaining dwarves pulled their way up out of the mines. Their faces were grim and they looked exhausted.  
"No such luck. We didn't see Henry and we certainly didn't find Emma. The mines have become a maze. The Black Diamond has lost its foothold in this world, so it is putting its remaining energy into securing Emma. The tunnels keep moving." Doc moaned.

Grumpy nodded. He turned to say something to Nova, but she was gone, a hint of sparkle left in the air.  
He turned back around. "Come on boys, we'll let Red and Pinocchio try tonight."

***  
Nova appeared on the grounds on the Little Sisters of the Poor. The air seemed different. Lighter.  
Daisy ran out to greet her. "Cora is dead."

Nova frowned. "Oh?" She followed Daisy into the chapel. Indeed, the lifeless body of Cora lay on the floor, her blood seeping into the carpet. In her hands, folded across her chest were two things, Rumpelstiltskin's bloody knife and a single rose. The other fairies were standing around whispering. There were only a handful of them, 10 at most now. And they were all looking at Nova. Particularly at her neck.

Could they sense, what she already knew? That she had been marked by her burn, which proved she was clean of dark magic. And that she had not succumbed to the temptation to grab the knife and take it for herself either. That she was the leader now, in all, but ceremony?

Nova took a deep breath, trying not show the dread she felt staring at the obvious stabbing mark on Cora's chest. She knew Cora had killed herself. It was the only small amount of control she had at this point. But it still rattled her to look. She kept seeing Snow, covered in her own blood trying to do the same, so many years ago. Snow who was now dead too.  
She shook her head to clear her thoughts.  
"Isa, go get a stretcher, so we can move her. Emily, assemble some strong men from the town to help you dig a gravesite in the graveyard in town. Sophia..." Nova paused. She was hesitant to command the fairy she had looked up to for so long. Who despite her appearance was older than her and by far the saddest and possibly the wisest fairy.  
"Yes?" She smiled kindly, encouraging her on.  
"Where did she die? Who killed her?" She knew Sophia alone would know she meant Gertrude and not Cora.  
Sophia raised her eyebrow, but she replied. "King George has already sought me out. He wishes to make a deal with the next in line for her remains." She grimaced. "He seemed to think it would be me, but I assured him, that nothing was decided."

Nova nodded. The other fairies didn't seem to treat Sophia the way that she had looked to her. Perhaps they feared her one talent as much the previous Blue Fairy had. The ability to read their very hearts.  
Nova paled, she still didn't know what her own talent was. How could she possibly lead this scattered and lost band of fairies?

"Did he mention what he wanted for it?" Nova inquired, trying to maintain an aura of leadership. But it was clear that she was trembling. But this seemed to make the other fairies respect her even more. That she was afraid, but pushing forward.  
Sophia nodded. She met her eyes fiercely. "He wants the body of Cora."  
Nova frowned. Why would he want that?  
Knowing him, she could only think of devious intent. "Did he say why?"  
Sophia shook her head no.  
"What do you think?" Nova asked. "What should we do?"

The other fairies looked to Sophia. Their last leader did not consult them. She was the final say and the only say. Now they seemed to be confused as to who was the leader.

Sophia smiled. She looked to the others. "You saw him, when he came here. Did he seem to want to do her harm?"

This was way out of comfort, for even the older novices. There was whispers among them.  
Nova sighed. "Come, this an open forum, right now. And perhaps it should be from this point on."

Isa the oldest novice, a good 300 years old, spoke up. "No. He seemed sad."

Nova nodded. "Okay, don't bury her until I get back. Just start cleaning up the mess. Anyone not busy, can assist in looking for Henry." And then she unfurled her usually invisible wings, and flew off to deal with a king.  
***


	56. The Black Fire by any other name

Thanks Audrey1! Idk, I guess people don't like to get involved with really long stories sometimes.

***  
Thomas was searching the far corners of the woods for Henry. Dark was soon approaching, and so far no text from Ella, who because she had to take care of Alexandria, their baby, was the town call center instead of the search party.  
He didn't think that Henry would be out here, but all the usual places had been combed through already. He was close to the boundaries of Storybrooke, near the highway at this point. The only way in or out, which was now open. Could Henry have fled the town all together?  
Thomas approached the highway.  
Despite the fact that everyone seemed to know that they could leave, no one had left yet. In the dark, Thomas could make out a figure on the road though.  
He jumped down onto the road.  
It looked to be Henry.  
But he didn't even flinch at the noise. He was staring out into the open road out of Storybrooke.  
"Henry?" Thomas called. He shined his flashlight on him.  
Henry turned to look at his visitor. He looked ill and weary.  
He frowned. "Thomas?"

Thomas gave his best kind smile. "Yes. It's Prince Thomas. Cinderella's husband."  
Henry looked away. "I know who you are."  
Something seemed wrong, really wrong.  
"Are you okay? Everyone is looking for you like crazy. Practically the whole town is searching for you. You are worrying your...grandfather sick." Thomas tripped over the last part. It still felt weird to think of Snow's husband as a grandfather. He wasn't that many years older than him for goodness sake.

Henry didn't seem to respond to this.  
Thomas didn't feel equipped to handle this. He was barely a father. This was a pre-teen. And someone who had just lost almost everything he had, well Thomas had never been there. Before Storybrooke, where he hadn't really realized what he was missing, he was as pampered as he could get. A man that was still a boy. Only the last few months in the cannery, trying to raise his kid, had done him any real good.

Suddenly, a horrible thought occurred to him. "Why are you standing here, Henry? Of all the places to be?"  
"Because I can't leave." Henry replied calmly.

Thomas was sure the boundaries were down. "Because you are afraid to leave?"  
Henry turned to face Thomas. His eyes were hard. "Because Henry won't let me."  
Thomas frowned in confusion. Then he paled. Henry looked cold and unfeeling at him.  
"You aren't Henry." He mumbled as panic rose up in him.  
Henry shrugged. "I am Henry and I'm not. However, being given a name, won't make things any easier for you to understand."  
"Where's Henry?" Thomas shivered.  
"Henry, for all intents and purposes is still here. He always will be, unless he removes his heart from his chest. But then so am I. I am always here too. In everyone. Especially you, yellow bellied, coward of a crown. I have always been in you." Henry hissed out in response.  
"And who are you?" Thomas asked nervously.  
"The Black Diamond, The Heart of Darkness, the Beast, whatever you prefer. I believe your kingdom called me the Black Fire."  
Thomas paled. He reached for his cell phone. Henry was upon it in an instant. With a speed he wasn't expecting, the phone was on the ground and smashed.  
"Coward." Henry muttered.  
Thomas hung his head. "Fine, is that you want to hear. I'm a coward, who abandoned his pregnant girlfriend. Of whom, the thought never crossed his mind to sacrifice himself, to secure his child back from Rumpelstiltskin? Who was almost too afraid to marry the love of his life, because he wouldn't be getting a dowry or titles to save his financially crumbling kingdom? Is that what you want to hear?"  
Almost. Almost too afraid. He thought of Ella and their beautiful baby. Henry was someone's baby. Someone very specific. The someone whom he owed his baby's happiness too. And Henry's heart still seemed to be strong enough not to let the Black Fire exit Storybrooke. For now.

"What did you do wrong, Henry?" Thomas asked. "Why are you here at dusk standing in the highway?" Henry seemed to soften. He looked fragile instead of frightening. More like a kid. "I heard it. In the mines. I lied. I said I didn't hear it, but I did. I still do."  
He began to cry and Thomas shivered. "The Black Fire?" That was what his kingdom called it. The boogie man of sorts, the stories of which were told to frighten small children.  
He reached out and touched Henry tentatively.  
Henry sunk slightly. "That's not all."  
"Oh?"  
Henry looked away again. "I did something bad. I'm the bad guy." His voice trembled.  
"Hey, making mistakes doesn't make you any less a man. It doesn't make you a bad person, either. It is your successes that show your mettle." Thomas replied sincerely. That was something his late mother had said.  
"But it was really bad." Henry countered.  
Crickets chirped and an awkward silence fell between.

The sun was down now and only the light of Thomas' flashlight shown in the dark of the woods.  
"The rest of the town that isn't looking for you, is looking for your mom, Henry. You want to change? You have the rest of your life to do that. Let's start, right now. Let's help them."

Henry looked at Thomas, studying him closely. "You are just spewing out whatever pick-me-up stuff you read in those self-help books you were reading a few months back, aren't you?"  
Thomas winced. "Yes, I am just flying by the seat of my pants, right now."  
Henry cracked a smile.  
"What does phrase mean, anyway?" Henry asked.  
"I have no idea, kid. Just because I am an adult, doesn't mean I know anything." Thomas shrugged. "I'm just trying my best in this world, just like you are."  
Henry embraced him. Thomas could feel the darkness he had seen before in his face. But it was pulling back, retreating for the moment. Like a dragon swallowing its fire into its belly.  
Thomas hugged him back. A headache was building and his heart was beating a mile a minute.  
He was fairly certain, that Emma and he were a lot closer to even now.  
"Let's go get your mom home, Henry."  
Henry nodded and the two of them walked back towards town in silence.

A fairly large crowd of townspeople had gathered to watch the wooden man and Red enter the mines.  
Red gave a weak smile to Granny, who stood beside her. "I'm not mad, Rose. I was proud to think that you had some sort of weak control over it, since I never had any. But to find out you were using a puppet, is a disappointment for sure, but I'm not mad." She kissed Red on the cheek. Then she unclasped the cloak.  
Red jumped back and her eyes turned yellow in the glow of the full moon. Soon, she shifted into her huge wolf form. A collective gasp rushed through the crowd as she sprang immediately towards Gepetto who was standing far off on the top of the closest hill. He pulled back on the puppet in his hands. Red's wolf form jerked backwards and stood on its hind legs. It growled in anger, but remained standing.  
"It still works." Gepetto sighed in relief. He handed the puppet to his father. And he picked up the empty wooden controls. Pinocchio shifted.  
Slowly and creekingly, the wooden man began began to move into a steady walking gait. The wolf was released and flung in the direction of the mines. It ran down into the mines and both were soon gone from sight.  
"Let some slack on the line to the wolf." Gepetto called. " I need to her to move her head freely."  
The wolf puppet's head relaxed and then it moved on its own. Turning left and right in stopped looking left. "Left." Gepetto's father called.  
Gepetto turned Pinocchio left.  
"Right."  
Gepetto shifted the crosses to turn right.

This continued for a good 30 minutes. Left, Right, Right, Left.  
Suddenly the wolf puppet stopped sniffing. It appeared to lay down in defeat.  
"Come on Rosie." Granny yelled stamping her foot.  
Nothing changed. Granny clenched the cloak tightly.

Some of the townspeople became restless at the obvious tension from the crew.  
"This isn't working."  
"Guess even the wolf can be attacked." Someone muttered.  
Granny tensed and looked ready to defend her granddaughter verbally.  
Grumpy frowned and grabbed her wrist. "I think, they...we were just hoping being a dark creature that it couldn't be attacked so easily."  
"Of course, she can be attacked. She's still a young woman. The wolf is just her body. Not her heart." Granny loudly yelled back. She closed her eyes and a tear escaped.  
Gepetto met her eyes. "All these years and I don't even know your name. Everyone calls you Granny, but you must have a name."  
Granny blinked and then smiled. "It's Johanna. But I have been just Granny for so long..." She trailed off.  
Gepetto smiled kindly. "Johanna, she can hear you, you know. The puppet and the wolf are connected."  
Granny blinked. "Rosie..." She bent close to the puppet. She frowned. It looked like she felt silly talking to the piece of wood. Gepetto's mother stroked the wolf puppet's nose. "Go on."  
"Rose. Don't listen to it." Granny continued. "If you were a beast, like it wants you to think you are, then why would you be doing this. What good does this serve you? Would a beast have volunteered to be chained? Would it allow itself to be tamed? Would it want to be?"  
She gave a quiet sob. She stroked the wolf puppet from its head to its tail.  
"A true and full beast doesn't repent. It doesn't feel sorrow. Grief. Shame. It is a constant battle I know, to tame a beast. Sometimes it feels like a losing battle. Maybe it is. But there is goodness in this world because we keep trying." Granny continued.  
"You aren't a failure, because you couldn't do this on your own. Nobody does best alone. We all have to work together. If we don't, then the darkness in any of our hearts can overtake us."  
Gepetto gave her a tender smile and placed a hand on Granny Johanna's shoulder.

"Rose." He cleared his throat. "My father... my birth father was a magical man like me. I learned to carve wood from my foster parents, where I was placed as a child, by the fairies. My birth father, I met him once as an adult. I knew he was powerful man, but I hoped he would see me. He was a rotten soul, and I never visited him again, but he did teach me one very important thing. I transformed wood into objects with purpose. I had never created something alive before Pinocchio. I was afraid." Gepetto sighed.

Granny muttered. "And rightly so." But then she smiled at him.

Gepetto took a deep breath and continued. "There must be two things, when something is created; given its own will. To bring something to life, you must give it a heart, so that it may feel and decide. But then you must allow the Black Fire to enter it as well. That gives it the passion and drive to act. Without that, the creation is stationary, seeing and feeling, but not moving, not acting. It has no reason to. A doll, a puppet with no drive, no purpose."  
Gepetto sighed. He knew Pinocchio could hear this too. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, no person is without a bit of the Black Fire. It urges us to create, and to control, to build and to destroy. Without the spark, there would be no hate, but there would also be no love."

Suddenly, the limp wolf puppet, sprang up into action. "Woah!" Gepetto's father yelled and pulled it back slightly. Then he released it, and it moved its little wooden legs rapidly, showing that Red was once again on the move.

"That was a good speech, Gepetto." Granny murmured.  
"It is more than a speech, it is truth." Gepetto squared his shoulders, trying to concentrate on moving the wooden crosses.  
"I guess I just never thought of it that way before." Granny smiled.  
"Me neither."  
The voice of Nova spoke up behind them. She and the other fairies stood huddled together in the darkness.  
Gepetto met her eyes. "It is a painful truth. Most people don't like to hear it."  
Nova nodded. "Perhaps, you would like to tell it again. At another time. Some people need reminders. Fairies included."

Gepetto smiled broadly. "You turned out alright didn't you, Natalie."  
Granny blinked. "Natalie?"

Nova smiled. "Yes, that was once my name."  
"You lived in the same village as Gepetto?" Granny asked.  
"Many years ago, yes. My father was the town weaver." Natalie nodded.  
Granny paled.  
"Then I am truly sorry. I'm sorry that Rhea...I'm sorry." Granny stumbled over her words, sadness creeping in again. "I didn't know what to do, to help her... I didn't think she would be angry..."  
Nova cut her off. "I forgave your daughter the day I died. The first time I ever felt the Black Fire, the Beast, whatever. I could finally understand how it could destroy others with such ease. Because it destroyed itself just as easily."  
Granny sunk her shoulders. "Indeed. That it does."

The wolf puppet stopped again. "Oh dear." Granny muttered.  
Then it howled. Sound actually came from the puppet.  
The strings began to rustle in the air on Pinocchio's wooden crosses.  
"They found her." Gepetto trembled. "Emma's been found." He looked to Prince James who had thus far said nothing, lost in his own terrible darkness. James met his eyes, but he couldn't even bring himself to a smile. Henry was still missing and he looked ready to emotionally collapse.

There was quiet cheering and whispers among the crowd of people gathered. Gepetto slowly guided his son to picking her up. His mother had to help hold his arms up. The weight of lifting Emma, was too much on his own. Gepetto began to sweat.  
"Now how do we get Red to come back this way?" Gepetto's father inquired. "The wolf will need a reason to turn around. It went down easily, because it considered Emma an enemy, since she had shot it." He pulled on the strings tightly. "I can't keep her off Emma all night. She has to have a bigger target to come back for out here."

Granny trembled. Tears began to roll down her face. She could think of something. She turned to the wooden puppet wolf. "Since, I know you can hear me, Rosie..." She gave a final gasp before she laid the future of her relationship with Red on the line in front of her. "I have a grave secret. I killed your mother. Andrea. My own daughter."  
The wolf stopped pulling on the strings.  
Granny sobbed. "And I wasn't a wolf when I did it."  
The wolf snarled.  
"She was killing so many people. I couldn't stop her. She was crazy. She believed that she could make people suffer for their hardheartedness. So after no amount of reasoning, chaining her up, or warning townspeople about her, stopped her from killing, I murdered her. She left you in my care, to run errands. But I wasn't stupid. It was the full moon. So I poisoned the wine I knew she would steal from me before leaving."  
The wolf howled in anger.  
Then it turned back around and ran back towards the exit of the mines. Gepetto's father struggled to slow her down so that he could keep track of her turns.

"Everyone clear out." James suddenly took charge standing up. He drew his sword, which was still attached to his belt from the days previous. He had never taken it off, not even when he was sleeping. "I can't protect everyone. So if you don't need to be here, I suggest you leave. I thank everyone for their support, but now would be the perfect time to leave."

His words and his stance were princely, but his tone was bitter and cold. However, the townspeople needed nothing more. The started towards their homes in flocks. No one wanted to be around when the angry wolf emerged. Puppet or no puppet.

It was several tense minutes, waiting and watching the rapidly running wolf puppet. Only the puppetmasters and Granny remained with James near the exit to the mine. The fairies and Grumpy were standing far off, but still in view.

Red came bursting out full throttle. She blazed past James and charged straight towards Gepetto's father. Seeing that the puppet was only slowing her down, but not stopping her, Gepetto's father flung it as far as he could.  
The wolf immediately turned its focus to Granny and the cloak. Granny held it in front of her a barrier between them.  
"She was targeting people. She was biting them on purpose. She plotted and planned how to raid villages and bite targets and kill others. She felt that others should understand, that they should feel her pain."  
Granny closed her eyes. "I ordered a magic cloth from a weaver with magic. It worked for me, so I wanted one for her. He wove another cloth that could stop her transformations. It was a start, I felt to getting her back. But she found out what I had done and she killed the weaver and his wife. As a woman. Right in front of their only child."  
Red snarled, and she seemed to be looking for the right moment to run behind Granny and attack from behind.  
"Then she comes back years later, with you in tow. She leaves you with me and steals off into the night. She did this for three years. I tried everything I could think of, but she wouldn't listen to me. So, I did the only thing I could think of. I poisoned her. It seemed less violent somehow, less wolf. She dropped dead as a wolf outside of one of her target's homes. And I promised myself that you would fear the wolf more than anything. Because years of telling my daughter that she was perfect the way she was born, that I loved her anyway, that we were in this together, well, that turned out so well." Granny's voice cracked and her guard went down a second.

The wolf jumped her. Granny and the cloak were tossed around, but it fell quiet soon enough. James stood over the moving red cloak. "Keep it on, Red. Or so help me."

Red fell into sobs. She wrapped the cloak around her. Granny sat up, blood coming down her face from a scratch mark on the top of her head. And old wound from last month was opened up again as well and her arm was bleeding again.  
"She was my mother." Red sobbed. "She was my daughter." Granny sadly and weakly defended. "And I raised you in fear ever since. Fear that you would turn out just like her. Fear that I would fail again."

Pinocchio emerged with Emma at that moment. She was pale and weak looking and her eyes were glazed over.  
Pinocchio collapsed, once she was laid on the ground. "I promised, I'd bring you back." He pleaded, his words garbled sounding. "Now you have to come back to me."

Gepetto sunk to the ground as well with exhaustion. "I'm too old to be doing this." He muttered.

James took one last look at Red, to make sure she was keeping the cloak on, before turning his attention to his daughter.  
He put his sword down beside him, just in case. He stroked Emma's face, clearing the dirt and grime off.  
"She won't rouse." August lamented, his words like gravel in his mouth. "She's here now. But not in mind."  
James looked her over. "Hey, my princess." He pleaded with her. "My Emma." He hung his head. "I know that your heart is strong. Ignore the false logic, the twisted illusions, and follow your heart. Follow that back to us."

Two figures appeared over the horizon. "Hey. I found Henry." Thomas yelled to the figures crowded together in the dark.

"We got Emma." Gepetto's mother yelled back.

James looked up sharply. Henry was here. "See, your son is waiting for you." He told Emma softly. "Come back for him at least. Come back for Henry."


	57. Stronger with You

***  
Emma lay, still glassy eyed and motionless in the Storybrooke hospital. Dr. Whale had hooked her up to a drip and she seemed to be gaining strength. It was calculated that she hadn't eaten in 4 days and the water and nutrients were slowly bringing her weak pulse up. Henry had refused to leave her side for three days and he also had refused to speak about anything regarding why he had run off.  
James stopped pushing and just let him sit there. He was too tired and drawn to fight him. James just sat next to him on the chairs around her bedside in silence.  
Pinocchio was on the bed on the other side of the curtain. Lifeless and motionless once again. He had demanded that the necklace that Henry had placed around his neck in the mines to slow down the transformation, be placed on Emma, to help her find her way back. He would lay there and wait for her to give it back to him.  
But nothing had changed in the past few hours. Henry crawled up into the bed with Emma and nestled against her.  
Red was being treated on the other side of the wing, to keep the noise down. Her wounds and Granny's had been sewn up, but her soft sobbing was still audible, so she had been placed somewhere where the rest could sleep.

Henry had dreams of a dragon. A dragon that Emma was fighting. It breathed fire and she dashed from place to place, weaponless. She kept yelling Henry, Henry, stop this! But the dragon continued to pursue her. It opened its jaws...  
Henry bolted upright in the bed. It was so real, like he could almost feel the heat from the dragon. Burning his skin, or erupting from his own belly. He shivered hot and cold at the same time.  
He looked at Emma's monitor. She was alive and stable and the time was 4:09 am. Everyone else was quiet.

Henry closed his eyes. A horrible thought came to him. Emma was supposed to be the savior. But what was his role? He hadn't existed the last two times, according to Henry Sr. Who was he in this story?  
He had already done something bad. And he had been the cause of two additional deaths today or was that yesterday. Everything seemed to blur together.  
Henry wondered if this was what going insane was like. Where up was down, and down was up. Where yesterday and today and tomorrow all blurred together into one unending nightmare. Where dreams seemed more real than being awake.

This was nobody's happy ending. Henry Sr. had said that he had tried unsuccessfully before to bring the town out of the darkness.  
Perhaps it was time to try again. Before he really did become the bad guy.  
Henry moved like a man without a mind, his thoughts no longer stewing in his head. He stood up and rummaged through Emma's things on the nightstand. Nothing useful.  
His eyes turned to the sword at James's side. Too big for him to wield, too heavy. His eyes rested on the pillow he had been laying his head on.  
He picked it up and walked towards Emma.  
Part of his being screamed, stop, stop. This can't be the end. But he moved on. This was what he was born to do. To help Emma ensure the happy endings. They just weren't going to be this time around. He might die, but who cared at this point. He was outside of the curse, right? Maybe, that meant he would be stuck growing older as everyone else did not. Except for Emma. He could still be the old man who wrote the book, this way. Maybe he could be the one to raise Emma this next time. He would be always be cursed, by the knowledge of what he was about to do. But it didn't matter, did it? If everyone got their happy endings, then it didn't matter.

Stop! No! a small voice continued to rail against him. Henry kept walking. He tripped on an envelope on the floor and he allowed himself to pick it up.  
It read Emma in fancy script.  
It was the sealed letter Rumpelstiltskin had given Emma, when he had summoned the whole family to meet with Cora. It was to be opened when things were Worst. It must have fallen out of her jacket on the coat rack nearby.  
Right now, this is definitely Worst, the small voice screamed, what you are doing now is Worst.  
So Henry opened it. He allowed the voice, this small delay. He was curious.

_Emma opened her eyes. The glass of water was still there, by the bedside. But her mind was clearer and she felt stronger. The dull buzz in the back of her head was gone. Emma sat up. She was no longer shackled. _  
_"Hey!" A voice came through the window. But it wasn't August. It was another man though. A fellow patient from the looks of his matching wardrobe selection. _  
_"Want to come into the living room? I bet you can't beat me at chess." The tall, dark and rather handsome man flashed her a smile. _  
_It was better then sitting in here. And he was very fine to look at..._  
_"Sure." _  
_He set up the chessboard. "You can be white. If you want, Ms. Swan." _  
_Emma shook her head. "You go ahead. And it's Smith." _  
_The man shrugged. "Seems to me that it can be whichever you want it to be." _  
_He took the white pieces. _  
_"Do I know you?" Emma asked. _  
_The man shook his head. "I'm sure you've heard of me." _  
_Emma wryly grinned. "Oh, so you have a reputation around here, eh?" _  
_The man shook his head and flashed her a charming smile. "Not that kind." _

_Emma felt calm and captivated. Surely, he made others feel this way?_  
_"So why are you here,...sir?" Emma inquired, looking for a name._  
_The man made the first move. He took a knight and jumped it out towards the center. "Because I need to be. And now I finally can be. And it's Daniel." _  
_Emma blinked. Coincidence. _  
_She looked at the board. He had moved the knight first. The horse._  
_She studied him and he seemed to welcome it. A memory, or something, of a book, a storybook flashed past Emma's mind. He vaguely resembled the picture. It didn't do him justice, the cartoon. _  
_Emma moved the pawn in front of her king. _  
_"You haven't made that opening move since you were 8 and your older foster brother beat you with the seven move checkmate afterwards." Daniel remarked seemingly amused. "A risky move against an untested opponent." _  
_Emma frowned. How could he possibly know that? "Do you know a Regina?" _  
_Daniel seemed thrown off for a second, but then he smiled gently. _  
_"An incredible heart. Always love in it, even if it was only at its core and not obvious. Even if it slowly destroys her, day by day, loss by loss..." Daniel sighed and his eyes seemed distant. _

_"Just like her mother." Emma muttered. _  
_Daniel stared her down and then smiled. "Finally someone who understands. I knew I liked you a lot."_

Holding the pillow in one arm, Henry opened the letter. A delicate hand that was clearly not Rumpelstiltskin had written the letter. It looked like a woman's handwriting.  
Henry read it to himself.

**_Emma,_**  
**_When you read this, I will hopefully be dead. The first and only decent thing I will have ever done with my life, to end it. I have no important words to leave behind. I was never good at apologies. _**  
**_So I won't bother. _**  
**_But I will leave you with this._**  
**_I had a favorite story when I was little. It was in this little book that my mother bought in town. My father sold it for alcohol after my mother died. _**  
**_Henry, my husband, tried to find it for me, to give to me as a present. I told him that it was silly, that they were just stupid stories. But perhaps I was wrong about that too._**  
**_Enclosed is the only page I have left. I ripped it out when I was a small child and for many years it was the only part of it I owned._**  
**_I feel that for your Henry, a young man, still disguised as a boy, the message speaks for itself. _**

**_Cora_**

Henry's hands trembled as he unfolded the other piece of paper. A picture of a young man was on it, standing before a castle guarded by a dark, fierce looking dragon. The man carried no weapon and bursting forth out of his chest was another dragon, brightly colored and fierce looking. The caption at the bottom read, 'I just used my heart."

Henry stared at it unblinking for a few seconds before he furiously flipped the page over to read the words on the backside.  
_**... "All the others had failed before you. And they came with swords and spears and you have nothing. What made you succeed in rescuing our lady?" The servant boy asked. **_  
_**"I just used my heart." The young man answered, making his way up the stairs.**_  
_**The servant boy frowned. "Where did the second dragon come from?" **_  
_**The young man turned to face the small boy. "Where all dragons come from, for good or for bad." He smiled and tapped the boy's chest. "In here." **_  
_**The young man continued up the stairs, where he would find the lady. **_  
_**When he opened the door, his eyes fell upon the sleeping woman. She was just as beautiful as others had whispered about her, perhaps even more so. But even in sleep her lifetime of sorrow was visible. "Wake up, please." He whispered, kneeling at her bedside. "Allow yourself to be rescued..." **_

The rest of the story was missing.

_Emma closed her eyes. "You don't think I'm crazy, do you?" _  
_Daniel came back into focus. "No. I don't."_  
_He moved the pawn in front of his queen. _

_Emma sighed. "But I do, apparently. I could be just making you up, right now. I know of you, and you know things of me that you shouldn't."_  
_Daniel smiled. "I'm was...am a Seer, someone that sees the future."_

_Emma frowned as she processed this. "And you just let Cora rip your heart out?"_

_"You know what every Seer, sees first? Their death. A Seer is not a doer. That is what my grandfather used to say to me, when I was frightened. Seers, see the future, to help others with perspective, not to change the future, it is not our job. And so seeing their own death, is the first and ultimate challenge for a Seer, to test their mettle as a person. To not try and play like a god and prevent it. And to not fear death." He grinned suddenly. "Besides, it has its perks, like knowing where you would be down here. Like knowing you are going to move the pawn in front of your left bishop next."_

_Emma frowned as she processed this. This was exactly the move she had been thinking. Suddenly, she had a whole new perspective on what happened in the stables. "What good is seeing the future, if you aren't going to try and change it?" _  
_Daniel gave a boyish smile. "Henry, Regina's father also said a Seer should never lay down and take it like a dog. That you should always be looking for that one thing, that you were going to change. I have up until now, not used that one thing."_

Henry stared and read the page over and over again. Bile began to rise in his throat. Perhaps, Cora hadn't been trying to say he was evil. Just a dragon heart. For good or for bad. And it had almost been really bad.  
The beast had him before with lies, beautiful lies, just as Regina had said it would use. The small voice had been his own heart, screaming, pleading. Tears began to flow and Henry flung the pillow across the room in terror and disgust. It knocked over a tray of supplies, making a loud clatter.  
James sprung to his feet, awake in an instant and sword drawn. Henry began to sob. He slowly folded inward and laid on the bed beside Emma, his mother. His beautiful and sorrowful mother.

James seemed frozen seeing Henry cry and no obvious threat. He frowned.  
"What's wrong?" He asked Henry.  
Red and a few nurses scrambled into the room, hearing the crying.

Henry continued to cry, but he answered his question for the first time in three days. "I am a monster."  
James blinked. "Why would you say such a thing, Henry?"  
Henry continued to cry, loudly. He choked out his next words. "I thought it was the only way to start over. To reverse the curse, to start everything all over again. To get the happy endings."

Red managed to push aside her own grief and sat at the foot of Emma's bed. She began to rub his back. "What is the only way?"

***  
_The air around them became heavy and intense. The other people in the room had stopped moving. Daniel suddenly became serious and urgent. "You must go back, Emma Swan. The difference between a hero and villain, isn't about never giving up, or being completely sure of the path ahead, it's about love. A villain loves nothing, but themselves, and most of the time, not even that."_

_Emma stared at the board in thought. Black and White pieces across from each other. Daniel took his hand and swept it across the board, pieces flying every which way. They made a strange metallic sound, that seemed to not fit with the plastic pieces. "And there are no villains in this story. And someone needs to be reminded of that."_

_"This is my one last move. Go back for Henry." _

_And Emma heard a voice..__**.I'm a monster.**_  
_Henry's. _  
_**I thought it was the only way. To secure the happy endings.**_  
_"No that's my job." Emma growled. She closed her eyes._  
_**"What was?"**_  
_And when she opened them, Daniel was gone._  
_Because Emma had really opened her eyes._  
_***_

Henry didn't have to answer. Emma did. "I'd have to die."  
All eyes sharply turned towards the familiar voice. Emma's eyes were in focus and her heart rate and breathing spiked dramatically.  
Emma's hand moved to the top of Henry's head. "This probably isn't real, I might be making this all up, but clearly this is where I need to be right now."  
Emma tried to sit up. She finally registered that her father was standing beside the bed "You're alive." She smiled and then frowned. "I have to be making this up."  
"No, no, no." Henry stuttered, trying to quickly reassure her. "It was a trick. Remember the trick box. Regina had the real heart in there."  
Emma twisted her mouth in thought. She tried to shake the details of the last place she had been, storing it in another box in her mind. That had not been real. Sort of. Maybe.  
"I think so." Emma muttered. She looked up at her father again. He looked sad and drawn. A deep sadness. Her lack of awakening had clearly not been the thing that was keeping him looking lost and faraway. She gave him a small smile and he weakly returned it. He approached the bedside.  
"Okay, let's start with something easy." Emma took a deep breath and tried to sit up again. "Is it your birthday, kiddo. And if not, how long has it been?"  
Henry sat up, distracted at the moment from the sorrow still behind his eyes. "Nope. And I think it has been 5 days since."  
Emma nodded.  
"Your birthday passed and you didn't tell us?" Red questioned worriedly.  
Henry shrugged. "I was kind of busy dieing." He said this calmly, but his eyes began to cloud.  
"Woah, woah. Okay. Obviously, I'm going to have to start at the beginning here." Emma jumped in and grabbed his hand. "We were in the mines. It was your birthday. 12:03 am. What happened since then? Where is August? What is this about dieing? And..." Emma scanned Red who also looked stuck in her own personal grief. Emma trailed off.  
Red got up from the bed. She pulled back the curtain on the next bed. A very wooden, unmoving August was revealed.  
Emma swallowed and her focus wavered. She shook her head. She was not going to give in, this was painful, but she was staying here.  
She jumped from the bed, at the last second remembering the monitor and the drip and grabbing the pole. Unsteady on her feet, Emma braced herself on the rail to August's bed.

Studying him for a second, she leaned in for a kiss on his forehead. August's eyes opened, but he remained wood. "Emma." He rasped. Emma covered her mouth in shock. "It didn't work."  
August shook his head slowly. "This isn't a curse. Being a real boy, that was a blessing." He smiled. "But I'm glad you thought it would work."

Emma reached out her hand for his. She closed her eyes. "No." August forced out clearly. "You aren't strong enough yet. Look at you, you are using my rail for support. Don't you dare use magic." August harshly argued. Emma opened her eyes.  
"But I am stronger with you."  
August smiled broadly. "That...is possibly the most romantic thing, I shall ever need to hear."  
His smile stayed but he fiercely met her eyes. "Get rest. This world needs you more then me. They have lost a lot of leaders and they need a strong shepherd. When you are ready, you'll know where to find me." He closed his eyes and went still again.

Emma sunk to her knees, a soft pillow was waiting underneath her. While her head spun as Red helped her to her feet and back into bed, she thought just about that pillow. The crash and the crying that had brought her back to this world, once again.  
Henry was still sitting on the bed, his arms around his legs. James helped Red place the covers back on Emma, but she only watched Henry.  
Her spinning mind clicked into place. The pillow. Thrown across the room. The words, it was the only way. The fact that James and Red were the only major townspeople at her bedside. The sorrow and the...guilt in her son's eyes. The opened envelope that James took off the bed and placed on the nightstand again. The letter that was to be opened at the Worst.  
Someone had thought to kill her.  
She looked up sharply and opened her eyes again. Henry met her eyes and then looked away.  
And it had been Henry. Of course it had to be. Only he and August knew.  
"Oh, God." She muttered. Anger and hurt rose up at first. But she quickly stuffed those feelings down. Love prevailed. Love for the hurt, angry, little boy. She sprang up into a sit and grabbed Henry with her arms into her embrace.  
"I love you, Henry Mills. And I am a failure of a mother, if you think that anything changes that. You are not a monster."  
Henry sobbed again. "But I was trying to... kill you."  
Everyone stiffened in the room, but Emma only had eyes for Henry. She lifted his face so that he looked into her eyes. "I still love you. Got it?"  
Henry nodded through his tears.  
Emma took a deep breath and closed her eyes briefly, before opening them again. "Just don't try again, you hear. Leave my own fate up to me."  
Henry hugged her back fiercely. As though his life depended on it. Perhaps it did. "Agreed." He mumbled.  
Emma looked over at her sorrowful father and back to Henry. "Snow White...my mother...she is dead, isn't she?" She choked on her words, trying to stay detached, but failing. No, the Beast couldn't have her. She held Henry tighter.  
Henry buried his face into her chest and nodded.  
"And poor Henry, had lost both mothers all at the same time." Red added. "Henry broke a command and Regina killed herself to eliminate his allegiance to her, to spare his life."

Regina was dead too? Wouldn't that have broken the curse? Apparently not.

Poor Henry. No wonder he had contemplated killing her. He had been for 5 days without her, Regina, Snow, or August. Emma imagined, based on Red's demeanor, that things were worse than that too.  
"Well, you've rescued me now." Emma sighed. Henry nestled in next to her. Emma felt stronger now, his heart beating up against hers. She dared to close her eyes, knowing that with Henry by her side, she would open them again and he would still be there. And so therefore would she.  
The two of them laid together sleeping for the next 6 hours.

Red went back to bed. Granny was obviously awake, but she didn't ask.  
"Emma's awake." Red muttered. She flipped to her side so that her back was towards her grandmother. Her rock and her shepherd. Had been.  
She fell asleep slowly, thinking of Henry and the pillow. What a terrible decision and what a burden to carry! She thought of her grandmother and her awful burden.  
But it was too raw and she pushed it away.  
Perhaps things would heal between them, Granny and her. But not tonight.  
***


	58. Taking back the Kingdom

***  
Prince James opened his eyes. A bit of peace had fallen over him and he had slept better than in many, many days previous, even though it had been on a couch. Emma had made a slow recovery, sometimes slipping in and out of focus, so softly that you had to watch her carefully to notice. James was sick of worrying, since nothing he seemed to say or do, seemed to have any effect around here anymore. And Emma wouldn't talk about what she saw.  
She seemed to have fooled most of the staff, who stated she was in good health at least and had released her. But Henry seemed to follow her around, occasionally holding her hand and at least never leaving her sight.  
He still refused to talk as well and now neither of them were in Emma's old bed.  
Seriously, his child and his grandchild were going to be the death of him. Up and running off here and there without a heads up or...  
His breathing quieted seeing a note. He was still pissed, but at least he wasn't panicking.

Dad,

A smile graced David's face and briefly rose into his eyes. He paused just to relish the term of affection.

Dad,  
Henry and I are fine. You were sleeping so soundly and you needed the rest. We are on a mission to find something at Regina's. If you need us, we both have our cells this time.  
And please shower. No really, do not come find us wearing those same clothes again. I mean it.

Your daughter,  
Emma

He went to the bathroom in Snow's apartment. When he finished he looked at himself in the mirror. He sighed. He looked like he had aged a few years in just a few months. He hadn't shaved in at least a week, if not more. His sword still at his side.  
He rummaged through Snow's closet, finding a flannel shirt and pants that had been there since he had first moved in. How long ago, two months seemed. He could almost hear Snow yelling at him. Fresh underwear. Please. Why do men never change their underwear?  
He managed to find a pair in the dryer.  
Then taking a towel that still smelled of Snow, he stripped and climbed in her shower. Her shower. As the water rinsed all the dirt and stink off of him, he closed his eyes. Laughing. He could hear laughing.  
"There he is. A little soap and a razor and you'll be Charming again."  
He opened his eyes. Snow.  
The water passed right through her, but she was there. Her long hair around her face. Every inch of her, just as he remembered her.  
"You're dead. You aren't here." David sighed.  
Snow shook her head. "As long as I am here..." She pointed to his chest. "Then I am here." She gestured with her arms to the air around them.  
David began to weep, his tears mixing with the hot water. "I miss you so much."  
Snow gently smiled. "I miss you too. But you can't mope around the rest of your life."  
"What do I do? Our daughter needs you."  
Snow gave a sad smile. "I know. But she also needs you." She placed a hand on his chest. He could almost feel it.  
"Do you love me, David?"  
"Of course, I do. Why would you ask?" David frowned.  
"Then why do you lie about, not dead and not living? You can not save me this time. But you can honor me." Snow chastised. She stroked his face, her touch almost there.  
"I don't know what to do. You were always the planner." David sighed.  
"And you were my strength." Snow smiled. She laid her head against him.  
"Give King George, Cora's body. I know it seems wrong, which is why the fairies haven't done so. But nobody here is a beast. Not a true beast. He may never have loved her. But he did love his cousin, Henry, her husband. A cousin who suffered much in battle beside him as a young man. He wouldn't have spared Cora, for him, otherwise." Snow became somber. "Cora may never have seen it, but I did. She loved her Henry, even if it was only in all the little ways."

James frowned. "I don't understand what this accomplishes, but I will do as you ask."  
Snow smiled and began to fade away again. "I love you Charming. Now, go help our daughter take back our kingdom. Not house by house. But heart by heart."

Prince James quickly finished and shaved. As combed his hair and dressed himself, he once again seemed, noble, at least in spirit. Poor shepherds rarely became Kings. But even fewer Kings stayed Shepherds. He knew what he had to do.

Leaving his sword across the bed for the first time in months, David walked in the street. Where the first thing he did to announce his leadership and his intentions was to find the board in the town square with the list of dangerous criminals and burn it to the ground.

***  
Emma ran straight for Regina's shed. Through the back door, this time. But she wasn't looking for a shovel.  
And there, right where she knew it would be. A saddle. A very old and dusty saddle in a town with no horses. Flipping up the stirrup strap on the left side, there it was, just he had said it would be. Sown into the leather was a ring. There was another spot next to it, where another circle, probably the second ring had been sown.  
Emma ripped out a pocket knife.  
"What are you doing? Is that what I think it is?" Henry protested.  
Emma held it up into the light coming through the window. "Yes, it is. This is the other ring. Daniel's ring. Right where he said it would be."  
Henry frowned. "Daniel is dead. How could he have told you where the ring was?"  
"He was there. In my crazy, mess up mind. In a mental ward, he was a fellow patient. When all the world told me I was crazy, and told me he believed me. About you, about Snow, about Regina. He told me I needed to go back, to save you, Henry. I was talking with him, when I heard the crash. Yesterday, he told me about this."  
Emma looked inside the ring. Nothing. No inscription.  
At first she frowned. He said there would be an inscription. True love.  
Maybe this wasn't the ring. Or maybe.  
Emma smiled. Then she laughed. She looked up to the ceiling as though he could hear her. Maybe he could.  
"You clever bastard. You knew if you told me about an inscription, that if this was all a lie that I just wanted to believe, that there would be an inscription. But there isn't. Because there never was one, was there? This is my proof. That you are real. And that this world, more importantly, is real. That true love conquers even death. Because there is nothing on the ring."  
She ran her finger around the smooth inner surface over and over again. Then she slipped it on her thumb, the only finger it would fit on without slipping off. She already felt stronger.  
Emma looked down at Henry. He looked to be battling something in his mind, but he pushed it aside and smiled broadly.  
"I sure hope so."  
Together they ran back towards the apartment.

Standing in the middle of the town square with a crowd of people watching was her father. He was clean, dressed simply, shaved and full of a sparkle that she hadn't seen in awhile. He was burning the list of dangerous criminals.  
"My name is not James. My name is David. I am not a prince. I am a poor shepherd boy. My brother's name was James. I made a deal to save my family farm and take his place after his death, just as my father before me had done with my twin, to get him the throne in the first place. Then, I gave up a ready made kingdom for love. To the most amazing, beautiful, haunted woman, who loved me just as fiercely. Some of you gathered here fought beside us, to gain back her kingdom. With swords and shields we forged ahead. But that was all the wrong thing to do. And we still gained nothing. A few years of peace, maybe. For a living nightmare. Lifetimes of suffering."

He gestured to the board. "We all have done things we aren't proud of, then and here. All of us. Bitter divides over wrongs which can never be undone."  
Someone in the back yelled. "You and your wife, have brought us nothing, but suffering."  
" Things now are as bad as the Ogre Wars." Someone agreed.  
"Or the wrath of a Dark Fairy." Another voice added.  
"I heard that they could be undone," Someone else offered.  
"Yes, I heard that to go back, we only have to kill the thing you love the most. Your daughter. Emma Swan. " A harsh voice proclaimed.  
David paled. This was not helping. He could see Emma standing off to the side in the back with Henry.  
Henry moved in front of her as people turned to look at her. Emma pushed him aside.  
With a calm and a posture of a royal, she kissed Henry and marched through the crowd to stand beside her father. David marveled at her grace.  
"Oh, so good news does travel faster than bad, sometimes." She smiled cynically.  
"Did this so called news, also mention that we would only go back to right before the curse? That you would merely be going back, just to come right back here." Emma stared the crowd down.  
"And that we have already done it. Gone back, twice." She held up her fingers for emphasis.  
Mutters and whispers spread through the crowd.  
"So go ahead. I'm sure that another go around will do the trick." Emma opened her arms in mock defeat. "Maybe next time, you will get your memories back again. Or have more time with your loved ones. Perhaps you manage to get a better job, more money. Maybe some of you will actually grow a set."  
"Emma." David hissed.  
"That includes you too, father. You were quite the pussy before." Emma replied harshly. But her eyes conveyed kindness.  
David closed his mouth.  
Emma turned back the restless crowd. "Life sucks sometimes. Frequently actually. That is what I learned as a foster child. Happiness is either fake or fleeting. Nothing is ever fair. And love, well...it hurts. It defines your whole life, and you search for it your whole life, hoping to find it. True love isn't that which gives you happiness, wealth, children, or even a kingdom. It isn't that which overcomes all obstacles that are put in its way. It is merely one miserable person looking into another's eyes seeing them exactly how they are, faults and all and love them anyway. And they look back and return the gaze."

The villagers still seemed restless. Suddenly, there was a clapping sound. Slow and purposeful. The villagers turned. Rumplestilskin was at the back of the crowd, clapping.  
"Oh, good speech." He smirked.  
Emma glared. "It's true."  
Rumplestiltskin walked forward and the crowd parted. He turned to the crowd. "Let's be real. Will any of that hype about love keep you fools from killing her? Are we all not such sinners that we would rip a woman to shreds for a moment of pleasure or hope for a better future? We are. I know I am."  
The crowd became deathly still. No one wanted to be compared to Rumpelstiltskin.  
Rumplestiltskin turned to Emma. He handed her a knife. His knife. "I am no longer the Dark One, but I am still a miserable human being. Cora has finally assured this miserable town that I will not longer bother any of you again, now that I have no magic. There will be no more deals from me."  
Whispers once again broke out.  
"This is nothing more than a crooked blade now. That broken woman was my savior. And so I give this to you. Do with it what you will. Kill me if you wish. Leave the townspeople to tear the flesh from my bones with it. Whatever suits you. For if anyone deserves to decide my fate, it would be you, tortured soul, abandoned baby, young mother and lost sheep, who unwillingly became a shepherd. And my great, great, great, great, great, great, granddaughter."  
Rumplestiltskin met Emma's eyes. Sadness entered them. How badly he wanted anger, it was so much easier to deal with. But even now he couldn't get it.  
"I have screwed each and everyone of my children over, trying to give them what they wanted. Just as any father ought to, right? But I quit. I give up. Tell me what my fate should be."

Rumplestiltskin dropped to his knees and hung his head.

Emma stood holding the knife in shock and horror. She studied its surface, blank and dull. But still holding her captivated.  
She closed her eyes. Then she looked at the townspeople frozen in anticipation, then at the burning board behind her. Then at Henry. The fog that seemed to be in his gaze most days, was missing. His eyes were now pleading.  
Emma placed the handle of the knife in her hand. And with one swift hand motion she pointed it towards the road leading out of Storybrooke. "Out."  
Rumplestiltskin looked up.  
"Out. Leave."  
She grabbed him with her free hand and pulled him to his feet. "Killing you, won't make me a better person and it certainly won't make you a better person either. Now get. Start packing. You have a long way to go, and I don't mean miles."  
Rumplestiltskin propped himself on his cane. And began to hobble off. The crowd parted again, this time in awe instead of fear. Rumplestiltskin turned briefly and looked back. His eyes silently thanked her and Emma's eyes did the same.  
As he passed by Henry, Rumplestiltskin ruffled his hair. Just as he had Baelfire's, once upon a time.

Then Emma flung the knife into a nearby tree in the square. "Anyone else? You are all free to stay or leave. Crown me or kill me. Whatever your little hearts desire."  
There were murmurs and growls, but one by one, every onlooker left for their homes.  
Emma wiggled the ring on her finger nervously.  
"You are so much like Snow." David sighed happily. He embraced her. Emma began to sob. "I'm never going to sleep well again. Always looking over my shoulder."  
Henry joined in the hug. "I think you underestimate them. I think that knife is going to stay there for a long time."  
"I hope so, kiddo."  
***


	59. Someone to beat back the darkness

***  
**About One Year Later.**

True to Henry's word, the knife never left the tree.  
Some townspeople had left, but most had decided to stay. Emma not only, had not been murdered in her sleep, but during a town meeting, someone nominated her for mayor. Emma declined, but accepted once loyalties to any other nominee were so obviously divided that fighting broke out.

David had shocked the fairies by asking them to give Cora to King George as requested. And King George had shocked everyone by walking down into the mines with her magically preserved body and a box. A box labeled number 7, the only thing that Rumpelstiltskin left him, when he divided or sold everything he owned and left town. A box containing a small heart, a heart of an unnamed little baby boy, one of Cora and his baby boys. The first one.  
The magic in which, he used to collapse the mines sealing them shut behind him. The twisted, broken man whose darkness had helped to destroy an entire family, buried himself in the ground with them, sealing off the darkness and the Beast.

And so things had gotten much better. The Beast was a faded weak whisper now most days, as strong only as the individual's own darkness allowed. The town began to get renovations, school once again reopened, and people started to form some sort of weak community, helping each other get things together.  
But Emma still nervously fingered Daniel's ring. Today, she was waiting outside of the therapist office. Archie/ Jiminy had stayed and Henry had been seeing him off and on for the past year. There had been a few family sessions, but mostly Henry stayed silent. He refused to talk about the night he disappeared, and refused to talk about the confession in the hospital. Anything else, he was perfectly sociable about, but not those two things.

Archie opened the door. Emma twitched. They had a wedding to get ready for and Henry had done nothing but lie in bed that morning, so off they had marched to his therapist. Emma had insisted that he couldn't go if he didn't talk to Archie.

"I think you should come in." Archie somberly smiled.  
Emma took a deep breath.  
Henry refused to meet her eyes when she sat on the couch.  
"Go on Henry. Your mother has been nothing, but understanding in all of our sessions. Tell her what you told me."  
Henry looked at the floor. "I killed Cora."  
Emma blinked in disbelief. She fingered the ring nervously. It still was smooth. Unfortunately.  
"Perhaps you better start at the beginning, Henry." Archie pleaded, tenderly.

_***_  
_Henry climbed out of his grandfather's arms. Using a skeleton key that knew Emma left under the mattress when she locked herself in at night, he creaked open the cell door and ducked down by the desk. Granny was in the bathroom, but she wouldn't be long. He turned back and saw his grandfather still tucked around the pillows Henry had placed there. With a wisp of magic, they looked like him. That would keep them fooled from a distance._

_It was 5:07 am on the clock tower. Henry, flashlight in hand was the only person around. In grief and anger, Henry walked up the long road towards the Little Sisters of the Poor, darkness weighing on him heavily._  
_The locked door no longer prevented him from entering, magic undid the mechanisms in the lock._  
_Henry stood in the hallway, in awe of the place he had never seen the inside of before. It was almost empty and quiet. Deathly still. Most of the orphans were gone now, their parents found. And so were most of the fairies, but of course they were dead._  
_Cora however, still resided here. Henry followed the gloom that seemed easier to sense tonight. Maybe it was her, maybe it was him. Henry didn't care._  
_He entered the chapel. Cora was sitting staring at the cross on the wall._  
_"Couldn't sleep either." Henry asked pleasantly. Remembering after all, he had been commanded to be polite to Cora._  
_Cora turned to face him, a bit shocked to see him. But her calm quickly returned._  
_"What do you want, Henry?" Cora calmly, but coldly inquired. She did not have to do the same._

_Henry sat down beside her. "You commanded that if I were to have the opportunity to gain possession of something, that I should take it."_  
_Cora turned and faced him. "Oh? And you have it."_  
_Henry pointed the messenger bag around his arm. "It is in here."_  
_Cora licked her lips quickly._  
_"Are you going to give it to me?" She questioned._  
_Henry frowned. He half expected her to just command him to do it._  
_"Maybe." That was the truth, unfortunately._  
_Cora bitterly smiled. "You want to know if you can make some sort of deal for it. I could just demand that you give it to me."_

_Henry nodded. He had fodder of his own. "And nobody would be able to stop you, yes I know. I couldn't run home to my mother and beg her to remove your command."_  
_Cora frowned. "Emma couldn't help you unless she made another stupid deal. Besides, I heard she hasn't come out of the mines yet."_  
_Henry shook his head. "No, my other mother."_  
_Cora blinked._  
_"Is it a family trait? To destroy everything you touch. To care so strongly, that you kill and destroy the very things you love. Was I scre...cursed from the moment I was born?" Henry spoke coldly, but calmly. His voice wavered for a second when he stopped swearing mid-word. There was no need now, but something still stopped him. Fear and pride mixed into a brutal concoction._

_Cora grabbed his arm. Henry continued before she could answer._  
_"That is true, isn't it? That I really am family after all? That my grandmother, Snow White, is made from a bit of your daughter's hair and her own mother's blood?_  
_Cora swallowed. "It's true." Her calm she had been so desperately seeking was fading away. Henry was polite and calm and honest. All things she had commanded him to be. But he looked at her with Regina's eyes. Cold and full of shielded spite._  
_"Well, I guess I am all that you have left to destroy then. Seeing as your husband is a faded voice in the depths of the mines, the woman you claim to love, dead, nothing, but an imprisoned heart that has had to see each and every family member suffer, your daughter and Snow, both of them are dead, dying to save me, and Emma, well there is no one left to rescue her from the mines and the beast. I tried you see. Tried and failed. Because I guess I'm not a hero." Henry's voice wavered, but his gaze remained burning into Cora._

_There was a dark, heavy silence between them._

_"So what do you want this for?" Henry gestured to the bag again._

_Cora didn't answer. Her daughter was dead. It had to be true, he was commanded to tell the truth. Everything he had said was true. Her command was meant for her to know what he was doing and now she was hearing what he was thinking too._  
_"Regina was supposed to be a fairy. But I couldn't let that happen, Henry. She was too much like me. Reckless, full of unbridled passion, and spitfire. She would have gone wrong, either way. And a miserable human being is better than a Dark Fairy."_  
_Henry frowned. He had not seen those traits in Regina often. Unless she had felt threatened by Emma, for encroaching on Henry. Mostly she was cold and distant and tightly reigned. Like Cora._  
_He tried picture his mother as a fairy. It was difficult._  
_Either way, truth or not, Cora was trying to justify her actions. Henry was not certain why, but he was cautious. She was not going to get to him too._  
_"You didn't even give her a chance. You assumed she would go up in flames. You didn't even try." Henry protested coldly._  
_"Now what do you want with this knife, Ms. Mills?" Henry needled, wavering dangerously close to rude._  
_"My last name isn't Mills and you know it." Cora grabbed him harshly, something clicking. "You felt it. In the mines. The Beast. Didn't you?"_  
_Henry closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. Not answering was not a lie, was it?_  
_He could feel the burning already. Perhaps omission counted. Henry sighed._

_"Yes."_

_Cora released him. She was assuaged and wounded all at the same time. "Welcome to the family, I guess."_  
_Cora stood and moved to the mirror that she had managed to locate after Emma had left it unveiled for her. Henry followed._  
_In the mirror, where Henry stood, a small, black, fierce looking dragon stood. Its eyes were yellow and it unfurled its wings._  
_Henry retracted. Could it come out?_  
_Cora smiled bitterly. "This mirror shows the state of our hearts. The fairies used to use this when I was around. To know whether I was a threat at that moment. If the people I had brought with me were real or not, or dangerous."_  
_Cora pulled Henry up by the scruff of his shirt. He was so stunned he didn't fight back. She pushed him towards the mirror. "You are real. A real dragon. Regina was never more than a pitiful crying little girl in this mirror. But you are a dragon."_  
_Henry was face to face with the dragon. It roared. Beside it stood an angry looking woman, that looked like Emma, except it wasn't. And there was small very young girl, crying at her feet, holding onto her leg like a leech. "He's just a little boy. Please, stop me. " She cried._  
_"Stop it Cora." The woman screamed at Cora. And she pounded on the glass, shaking the mirror. "Put him down or so help me..."_  
_"Or you will what, Maggie? I'm already going to die. What more could possibly be done to me." Cora screamed back at the woman in the mirror._

_She released Henry all the same._

_Cora was the little girl, screaming. Henry knew this as he watched the mirror. Maggie, was Maggie, and somehow in the room. And Henry was the dragon. An unholy terror sprang in his chest._

_Henry flung the bag on the ground. The bag with Rumpelstiltskin's knife in it. "Take it! I don't care what you do with it. Kill Rumpelstiltskin or choke on it yourself. You too can be the fairest of them all. Want a spell, just give me your heart? Okay, Deal. Want a baby, I can do that too, but its going to cost you. Perhaps a husband? True love, sorry, wouldn't know what that was if it bit me."_  
_Cora's eyes widened. Henry's voice sounded much like the Dark One's jibes, that even he widened his eyes. Scrambling on the ground, he turned and tripped and stumbled. He was dying again. He had been the complete opposite of polite and calm. And now he was dying. Again. He couldn't even stand anymore. This was the worst birthday ever. Last year, he had been turning 10. He had gotten a response back from a website, showing him his mother's location, and he had made plans then, to come and get her. A year of possibilities, each more incredible than the next. But it had been much harder than he had guessed. Even Emma's true love for him had not conquered the darkness. He was still a dragon._  
_And now he had turned eleven years old and was he going to die. As one of the bad guys._  
_Henry began to pant and cry. This time was worse than the first. The swearing had been an accident. A slip. It was peaceful death, for a mere slight. This was burning, blazing painful death. A death befitting a dragon heart._

_Cora closed her eyes._  
_"Happy now, Cora? You heard the whispers, just as I have. Your daughter, bit an apple to save him. And you are going to kill him on the very same day." Maggie's voice bit back at her. "You have destroyed him too. Congratulations."_  
_Cora groaned. "Emma never read the letter, did she, Henry?"_  
_Henry shook his head._  
_Maggie sighed. "Too much like you, I suppose, eh, Cora?" Her voice was weary and thin. "The darkness is never unmanageable, until you practically make your own noose."_  
_Cora sighed heavily. "Henry, you are released from all my previous commands. And you needn't die so quickly, you know. It displeases me." She said last part with forced venom. It was a weary command._

_Henry began to breath easier and the burning settled. He was still dieing, but tragically slowly now. Because an end to his misery, would have been too much to ask for._  
_He stumbled away, before Cora do anything more to him._

_When she killed herself six hours later, Henry knew she had died. He was standing on the piers, fighting the voice which was thinking about leaving on a stolen boat. At least he wasn't going to leave Storybrooke, not if he had any say. No need to destroy anywhere else._  
_Suddenly, he no longer felt the slow and torturous decay. He was free of Cora's demands. He could live as long as he wanted now. But he no longer wanted to live a long life._  
_A horrible thought took root._  
_If only Emma could be rescued from the mines. Even if it was just her body and not her mind. Then the curse could be broken._

Emma blinked. Henry's posture sagged from the weight of the released burden of carefully guarded secrets.  
Emma was more afraid in that moment, then in her whole life, dragon fight included.  
She sat stunned, worried that she would say the wrong thing. That one careless word or pause would finally crush the fragile spirit in front of her. Her son. Her savior.  
Jiminy gave her a look that pleaded that she should say something.

Emma swallowed. She fished in her pockets. She dropped down to Henry's level and took his hand. She placed the contents of her pocket in them. Sylvia had done this and it had taken her a week to get it. She hoped Henry was a quicker study.  
"What do you see?" She asked softly.  
Henry opened his hand.  
"Two dimes and a nickel."  
Emma nodded.  
"I see 25 cents."  
Henry frowned. "What does this have to do with what I just told you?"  
Emma smiled kindly, but her chin trembled slightly. "Everything. You see two dimes and a nickel. I see 25 cents."  
Henry seemed to be getting angry and course rather than understanding.  
"Same thing."  
Emma shook her head. "It's not. It's a matter of perception. We are looking at the same thing, but we see something different."  
Henry looked back down at the coins again. "Okay?" He replied, drawing out his word.

Emma took a deep breath and sighed. "It made more sense when Sylvia explained it."  
Henry raised an eyebrow. "Who?"  
Emma smiled. "One of my foster mothers. She was the one whose expensive historical tea set I smashed, because she was putting me back in the system. I didn't know then that she had cancer. But she wasn't angry. She told me why I had to leave, after I had smashed the first teacup. That she was dying, there was nothing more they could do. Then she smashed the matching saucer. We spent the last night at her house, smashing fine china, each one standing for wrongs the world had done us." Emma paused. She swallowed the lump rising in her throat. "She was the one I ran to, when I found out I was pregnant with you. She was dying in Phoenix and I was holding her hand when she died."  
Henry looked up, sadness and sympathy on his face replaced the earlier annoyance and anger.  
"See that's it." Emma grabbed his hands. "That's the son I see. A dragon. Dragons are wise and mighty. They cry bigger tears and have bigger hearts. Well guarded, covered in scales, yet still open enough to fly. Sure, they breathe fire, but fire isn't always a bad thing. Fire brings warmth and light to the world."  
Henry closed his eyes and then reached for his coat. Inside the jacket pocket, he pulled out a letter. The letter from Cora. Emma read it and the story page. Twice.

Emma met Henry's eyes with tears. "You've been carrying this around all year? This weight? You see a piece of paper, a story that proves that she was right, that you have a dragon in your heart. A black and scary dragon. An evil dragon. But I don't see that. I look at this story page and remember that Cora was once a child. A child who believed in stories about dragons. Dragons that rescued people. You said that she told you, you were a real dragon. Maybe this was her only messed up way to make her point." Emma pointed to the dragon rising from the man's heart. "That you are the person, who has the power to call forth a dragon. Something to beat back the darkness."

Henry stared at the piece of paper. Tears came to his eyes again. Emma embraced him. "I love you, Henry Mills. Dragon and all."

The two of them sat on the couch for the next 10 minutes, just holding each other.  
Henry hugged Jiminy tightly before leaving. "I know what I want to be when I grow up, Dr. Hopper."  
"Oh?"  
"A cricket."  
A huge smile grazed Archie's face. "You'd make a good therapist, Henry."  
Then they got ready for the wedding. Henry bustled about the apartment, Snow's apartment, which they had been living in, trying to find a clean dress shirt.


	60. Somewhere you've already been

***  
It was a simple wedding. Just a dozen or so people, gathered in the chapel that had seen so much in the past year. It felt weird for Henry to see two old people getting married, but it was also exciting. That love could come so late in life, when perhaps it had seemed out of reach. Granny, or rather Johanna, apparently, had never been married before, her one and only child, product of a vicious attack by a wolf man. She was beaming a huge smile and Gepetto seemed to be feeding off of it.  
Gepetto's young parents were there and beaming too. And they were pregnant, which made yet another strange family dynamic in Storybrooke.  
Only one thing, seemed missing and Granny had tried to appear as though it didn't bother her. Red.  
She had moved out of town, just before the Blue Fairy ceremony, 6 months back. While Nova had assured her that she could come back in whenever she wished, that she certainly wasn't holding her outside, Red had not returned. Even when Emma had texted her and called her about her grandmother's wedding. Not one peep.  
James sat next to Henry. He gave a Emma a look of inquiry upon Henry's mental state. Emma gave him a small smile and mouthed, later.  
He nodded.  
Thomas and Ella filed in behind them. Alexandra was not a baby anymore but a 2 year old, toddling around. Henry made funny faces at her, and she giggled.  
Grumpy and the six other dwarves took a seat on the other side of the chapel, in the back, behind the fairies.  
Even Jefferson, whom Emma hadn't seen since, Grace and he had left 10 months back, for worlds undisclosed, was present, sitting in the very back. Emma was sure she knew where he had come from though. She flashed him a smile.

August was the last to stumble in. He had managed to find the strength in himself to move around occasionally, but he was still made of wood. Emma sighed and gave him a forced smile. She had not been able to do one bit of proper magic since she had awoken in that hospital bed. Nova had told her something was holding her back. Perhaps her fear that things were still not completely real. Emma had protested that she hadn't had any slips back into that alternate world the Beast had created in 11 months. Okay, maybe 9 months. The ring had really helped a lot. Not that she had ever explained it to anyone, but Henry.  
"It will come back when it is ready," was becoming old. But Emma declined the fairies assistance, to fix August. So mostly wooden he remained. He had not complained and had spent the year reconnecting with his father. He was tentative at first with the new couple, but had embraced it a few months back.  
Emma looked around the room. She thought of the town she had been born to save. It seemed like most of the remaining folks were getting their lives back in order and some of them even seemed not just okay with their new lives and new homes, but sometimes happy.  
Only one person had remained, decidedly unhappy.  
Her father.  
He had been strong in the past few months and had really started to get a handle on things again. Back to a job and a leadership role in the town as the new sheriff. Henry and he had spent family male bonding time together. August had patiently showed him through words, how to fix not only a motorcycle, but the dryer, the dishwasher and his truck.  
But when he thought no one was looking, he allowed himself to be very sad. The fairies had come to an agreement that nothing was to be done about Snow. Anything that could bring back a physical form was dangerous, dark magic or would be very lacking in substance or authenticity.  
So her poor father had seemed to settle into his new role of loneliness. Emma flashed him another smile. She was glad he had come to the wedding. It looked like it was hard on him, but Jiminy thought it would help.

The wedding was going off smoothly, when the doors to the chapel banged open. Emma at first feared something dangerous, but the smile on Granny's face, since she was facing the exit was enough to relax her. Slowly, Red, dressed in jeans and a bright red camisole, not really wedding attire, approached the altar. Johanna sprang down and embrace her granddaughter.  
"You came." She gasped.  
Red pulled her off of her gently, but firmly. "I just had to make sure, my future grandfather in law, understood that I would rip the flesh off his bones, if he hurt you." Her words were harsh, but her eyes were soft.  
"I would expect nothing less." Gepetto answered meeting her eyes.  
"Oh, really?" Red suddenly became defensive.  
"That you would protect that which you cared about." Gepetto added with a smile.  
Red growled, but sat down next to Henry, who quickly made room for her.  
The wedding continued, Granny beaming broader than ever.

As Henry passed Jefferson, as they left to attend the small dinner at the diner, he handed him a package. "Happy Birthday, Henry." He muttered with a smile.  
"My birthday is tomorrow."  
"Oh, I know. But I am leaving, so I have to wish you well early."  
"Leaving so soon? Where is Grace?" Henry asked.  
Jefferson sighed. "Grace is a grown woman, with a daughter on the way. I have traveled not only in space, but time to visit you today."  
Henry frowned. He guessed Jefferson did look older than one year more. Perhaps a decade or so.  
"Where did you guys move to? Wonderland? Oz? The Shire?" Henry started spouting out random fantasy places.  
Jefferson shook his head. "Our home. Which, before you ask, is somewhere you can't visit."  
Henry frowned. "Why not?"  
"Because you didn't before, so you can't. Time travel. We went somewhere or rather sometime we, unfortunately had already been, so therefore we had to go back. Don't want to cause time paradoxes or something."  
Henry furrowed his brow. "That sounds taxing."  
"Trust me it is. Don't mess with time if you don't have to..." Jefferson smiled. " What am I saying? Except, you already did. Because you knew you had."  
"The storybook." Henry mused.  
"Indeed. Good luck, Henry. I'm leaving tonight and I doubt we shall see each other again." Jefferson took off his hat and bowed.  
Henry nodded his head back.  
"What was that about?" Emma asked, coming up.  
"An early birthday present." Henry shrugged, he gave her a smile. Emma nodded and walked away to talk to Ella.  
Henry ripped the paper off. Inside was small black book that was embossed with the words, Here Be the Beasts: Tales for the Young.

Henry opened the book. Inside was written in a woman's handwriting, that Henry could still recognize as Grace's. Happy Birthday, Henry! I know how much you like stories, so I wrote you a few.  
Henry's hands trembled, he leafed through the pages quickly. Stories of heroic men and women graced the pages. Ogres and dwarves and dragons. He flipped to the back of the book. There was the story of the lady who in her grief and sorrow over a lost love, slept her days away in a castle. Many knights had come to court her, but they all failed to pass through the gate, many dieing for a chance to wake the most beautiful maiden in the lands, for a big beast of a dragon always appeared to guard her. Henry read furiously, half in excitement and half in terror. There it was. The picture. The dragon coming forth from the young man's chest. Henry read the end. His eyes widened.  
He ran full speed for Jefferson. He flung him the book. "Take it back. Or you'll be creating the biggest paradox of all time. Cora needs this book."  
"Henry?" Emma's head shot up as she heard his yell.

Henry was running full tilt, past those gathered in the hall, out of the nunnery and down the grassy hill.  
"What did you give him?" Emma yelled.  
"Grace told me to give him this." Jefferson shrugged. He opened the book to the story Henry had last been reading. "Don't suppose you know why he reacted so?"  
Emma grabbed the book. James read over her shoulder. They read the end. The boy with the dragon in his heart. The woman wasn't a potential wife, like most rescue stories, Emma had heard. The young man, thought to be dead in battle, had come home to rescue his mother from her grief. The beautiful, sorrowful lady was his mother.  
Emma's eyes widened and handed Jefferson the book back. "Because this is how Cora finally redeems herself." Then she began to run after Henry.  
She swore and flung off her dressy heels. How she wished she had been wearing boots.  
Ella bent down and picked up the shoes. "Go get him." She smiled.


	61. Never the Easy Way

Climax! :) Only a few more chapters to go. And they are all written, so the next few will be posted at the speed of reviews... remember reviews=chapters. Thanks everyone!

***  
Henry ran faster than he ever had in his whole life. Not in fear, not anger, but in anticipation.  
He didn't stop running until he reached the picket fence. The fence surrounding the only place he considered home. Here, he hesitated. The last person to try and mess with Regina's body in a moment of drunken vengeance, many months ago, for here was where Rumplestiltskin had placed her, had run about screaming about a beast in the lawn. When Emma arrived there was nothing there. He had been written off as crazy and plastered, but no one else had dared pass through the gate. Even Emma had hesitated and had not crossed the threshold.  
Henry stared at the piece of the story again, a dragon formed of sadness protecting a castle. Henry took a deep breath. I have a dragon too. It is small, but mighty. And it will win. Henry closed his eyes and stepped through the gate.  
Nothing.  
He ran towards the all too familiar front door. Until he was blindsided by a swan knocking him over. A jet of heat blasted over the top of them. Henry blinked. "Mom?" He looked up and there was a huge dragon, dark and intimidating. Emma, the swan, took off and the dragon's eyes followed it. Henry watched in horror as it chased her. It was too fast, it was going to catch her.

Henry threw open his arms as in the picture. _Please. Please. He closed his eyes. Help me._  
When Henry opened his eyes, he gasped. A small black dragon with yellow eyes was rising from him in a puff of smoke, slowly solidifying.  
"Hello." He whispered in awe. The dragon turned and stuck its face close to his. Henry could feel its heat, but he was comforted instead of being afraid. Help her, he pleaded, looking back up at Emma. The dragon took off. Henry watched as it weaved in and out, attracting the attention of the bigger dragon.  
When he was convinced that the two of them could distract it together, Henry continued to run into the house.  
In the foyer, and up the stairs. Henry dropped to the ground as the house shook. Things fell from the walls, mirrors broke, and a piece of the sidewall on the top floor was missing, having fallen inside the house. Henry shook off the dust. Emma flew in through the hole. Seeing Henry was okay, she dashed back out before the dragon tried to make a bigger hole to get her.

Henry ran down the hall and threw open the door to the master bedroom. There in her clothes, tucked into her sheets was Regina. His other mom. She looked peaceful in death, but many years of sorrow were visible still in her unguarded face. Henry touched her hand. Cold. Yet, she wasn't stiff. An enchanted princess.  
It was silly to think, as Henry had once did, that a simple kiss could fix everything. She would awaken in sorrow still. But if it worked, she would be alive. And that was the first step to fixing things.  
"I'm so sorry it has taken me this long." Henry sighed. "I had to get a few issues of my own sorted out." He sheepishly smiled, though she couldn't possibly see that. "But you were wrong. And you were right. See, you did love me, no matter what anyone else told me. Even if that person was you. I just had to realize that it was me that hadn't been able to accept you. As you were, not as I wanted you to be."  
Henry leaned over and kissed her cheek. He waited with baited breath.

Regina's eyes flew open. A shot of good magic burst through the room and out into the town. Regina blinked in confusion at first. "Henry?"  
Henry beamed and shivered with relief. "Yes."  
"But when I kissed you..."  
Henry stood. "Bet this is the only time, it is not you, it's me, will be a happy announcement." He wryly grinned.  
Regina gave a half smile. Her mind was still spinning, the clouds of her last moments, leaving her as she awoke slowly. "You're so tall." She sighed sadly.  
"4 inches in one week" Henry smiled kindly.  
"Has it only been a week?" Regina asked glancing around the room. The level of dust suggested otherwise.  
"No." Henry sadly shrunk back. "Almost a year."  
Suddenly the house shook. "What is going on?" Regina asked.  
"Oh, no the dragon didn't disappear!" Henry yelped and ran for the window. "I thought for sure when you woke up...but...you are still sad... and the storybook did say it was dragon created by sadness."  
Regina frowned in confusion, but sprung from the bed, stumbling, at the mention of a dragon.

Thump.

Stupid year of no movement. Everything ached and nothing worked quite right. Henry helped her to her feet and she stood by the window with him. Henry opened the window.  
A crowd of townspeople from the wedding had huddled together in fear. James was headed back to the apartment for his sword and he handed Red a very worn and missing a few feathers, Emma. "Of course, I finally need the sword, once I have decided it was a crutch." He growled. The dragon tried to follow him.  
"It's going to kill him." Henry muttered in fear. "Dragon, take it upwards." The small black dragon rushed in front and taunted the dragon with higher flight. The large dragon, managed to bite the little one's tail and pull it to the ground with a thud.  
Henry dropped to his knees, in pain, as a dragon's roar was heard.  
"Henry?" Regina grabbed him.  
Henry looked up weakly. "One of the dragons, the small one, is me."  
The dragon came back down, and when the little one sprung up, blood sprayed on the ground as the dragons made a turn around the house.  
So much was happening so fast. Regina's head was spinning. A whole year had passed since she bit the apple. Henry had magic and was controlling a dragon or something. Where was Snow? Dead? Cora? Rumplestiltskin? She didn't see any of them. Regina shook her head. Questions for later.  
"You are a dragon?" Regina blinked. "That's very rare."  
Henry smiled meekly. "Cora showed me. I'm just sorry it took me a whole year to realize that it was a good thing. If I wanted it to be."  
Fire lit inside Regina's eyes, hatred for her mother, rousing her to action, old wounds returning. She stood and sticking her head out the window she closed her eyes and tried to think of something happy. If the dragon was truly just a projection of her own sadness and anger, as Henry surmised, then that was the way to combat it. She closed her eyes. Her mother's little magic trick, was going to disappear.

She thought of Henry's smile._ A real one, that reached his eyes. Dinners together, reading Amelia Bedelia for the thousandth time, helping with his homework, eating Rocky Road together late at night, hearing him call her mom. Henry letting her in on Operation Cobra. Waking from death, Henry's face the first she saw, love in his eyes. Something that had been missing, far too long, but now was back._

She opened her eyes. The dragon seemed to be crippled when it flew, its substance weakening. But it was still there.  
"You're going to have to think of more." Henry muttered, trying to signal his dragon.  
Regina sighed. This was going to be hard. There was just so much more shit, than happy memories. She closed her eyes again.

_Henry, her father. Standing beside her no matter what, even if he was silent. Reading her stories as a child. Tickling her to make her laugh. Playing hide and seek. Her first pony. Daniel, the little 12 year old orphan, who taught her to ride._

The huge dragon roared. Henry screamed. Regina opened her eyes. The huge dragon had grabbed the small black dragon with its massive jaws around the neck. Blood spit out and Henry sunk down to his knees, trembling in pain.

Concentrate...

_Daniel. Rides out to the meadows. Kissing under the apple tree in her father's garden. Their secret code words for everything. His stupid jokes to make her laugh. The fact that he already had those rings when she proposed to him._

It was still there... Anxiety began to build in Regina's chest, that the dragon was still there. In fact, there seemed to be another dragon on the horizon. Henry's cries were slowly taking away all concentration. How much more happiness in her miserable little life was there?

_Uh... Snow's making a fool of herself at her first royal dinner, to cover up Regina's blunder. Snow's completely inability to play the piano. The way she mocked the more pretentious royals behind their backs at dances, to make her smile. Her refusal even at 13 to let her mother keep her from cooking in the kitchen._

"Ugh, I swore I killed that one already." Emma's weary voice growled from the ground. Regina opened her eyes. Her apple tree was on fire and the third dragon was now visible...Krissy? Indeed it looked like Maleficient's dragon form. It seemed to leap right in the fight and it bit the wing on the huge black dragon. It howled and dropped Henry's dragon from its mouth. And turned on the new attacker.

_**You should have just gotten a pet...It would have been so much easier.**_  
Regina smiled, hearing her old friend's voice.  
She turned her thoughts back to memories.

_Snow's calm acceptance of whatever Regina and Natalie had planned for her. Finding out the Wild woman thief on the king's highways was Snow...and choosing to enjoy hearing various moaning gossip about what she had stolen from them, instead of chasing her down...Snow's heart, still freely given, even after all this time. Something her mother hadn't managed to destroy. Or herself. Especially herself._

Regina opened her eyes. The dragon was slowly fizzling away. A heavy weight lifted from the air. The spell was over.

The small dragon sunk to the ground. And the large dragon that Emma had indeed killed, sat beside it. James had returned sword in hand. He looked to strike at the familiar dragon. "Don't touch it." Henry coughed. He ran for the stairs and stumbled out of the house. Regina continued to watch from the window, knowing running was still out of the question.

The dragon that was once Maleficent, shifted its scales and met Regina's eyes. It was so tall that its face met hers in the window.  
**_You never did anything the easy way, did you?_**  
"You're dead. How can you be here?" Regina whispered.  
_**You may need a beating heart to live, but you certainly don't to die. And when has death, ever stopped anyone from existing? Especially a dragon heart?**_

Regina gave a weak smile. "You were so right. I'm so sorry, Krissy. For everything."  
_**I know. Goodbye Regina.**_  
And Kristen, the dragon, faded away.

The wounded little dragon met her eyes as well and Henry embraced it, putting his face up to it. "You did something good, dragon." The dragon heaved. Daisy came over, and she began to demonstrate how to heal its wounds. Henry ran his fingers over its wounds. The dragon hissed, but they began to seal over. "You are a quick study, Henry." Daisy chirped with a smile.

Henry smiled, tears in his eyes. He opened his arms. "Return." The dragon became smoke once again and faded into his chest. The wedding crowd stood in awe.  
Henry leaned up against the smouldering frame of the apple tree, which Isa had put out with water, breathing heavy. But he was smiling still.  
Emma crawled over to him, her hair a bit singed on the ends and she was covered in sweat, soot and dragon's blood. James set his sword in the ground beside them.

"Charming? Charming!"  
Everyone's attention was drawn to the sound. It was Snow White, wearing a borrowed nun's wardrobe and barefoot, hair flowing in the wind, running full speed towards the group.  
Emma looked at James. He hadn't flinched.  
Snow seemed confused that he hadn't responded when everyone else was standing in awe.  
"Charming?" This time she seemed confused and wounded.

Emma kicked her father. "You idiot. I know you see her everywhere you go. That you feel like you can never tell if she's real or not. But if you keep telling yourself you've moved on, which you haven't, trust me, you'll miss the real woman behind you."  
David frowned. He slowly turned around.  
He looked at everyone staring at the most beautiful woman in all the world, at least his world.  
"You're...back." He whispered with a smile.  
Snow embraced him. "We just can't be kept apart for long, can we?"  
"I gave up. I stopped trying to find a way to bring you back." David softly admitted.  
"I'm glad. It wouldn't have been right to badger the fairies into magic they were uncomfortable with. I'm glad Emma talked some sense into you."  
"You heard us?" James frowned.  
"I heard everything." Snow smiled. "The good and the bad." She grabbed his jaw and kissed him fiercely. He returned it with the same blaze.

"You were right about true love. Just two miserable fools, who see each other's faults and strengths and love them just the same." Henry sighed with a smile.  
Emma grinned. Henry grinned back.  
Emma shifted her gaze upwards to Regina. She was frozen, half in joy and half in old hatred. Emma could see it flame up again in her eyes, even as she tried to suppress it. "And you had to learn about love from somewhere, Henry." Nova approached and somberly added. "Let her clean you up, give her purpose." She whispered.  
Henry weakly stood, "I'm definitely going to need a shower and a change of clothes, before dinner."  
Emma smiled. "Use the shower here, you have plenty of clothes that were stuck here. Meet me back in an hour at the diner. I'm going to use the shower at our apartment."  
Henry nodded and made his way back into the house.  
The crowd left, speaking in excited whispers, nervous twittering. "Come on." Grumpy yelled trying to disperse the crowd to give the family some space. "This calls for a round of beer."

Snow turned and helped Emma to her feet. She hugged her tightly. "I'm so sorry, Emma."  
There was nothing, no crackle of magical tension between them.  
"Oh, thank God." Snow sighed. "And I hope nothing ever comes between us again. We have a lot of lost time to make up for."  
After all the months of depressed, scary, even psychotic Snow, Emma suddenly, felt Mary Margaret coming back. Mother hen and nosy best friend. But in overdrive. She suddenly felt smothered. She hadn't needed guidelines with David, silent and steadfast, but Snow...rules seemed to be in order.  
"Okay, rule one, no smothering. That's mothering with emotional suffocation. I'm an adult, I'm 29 years old, going on 30...no, you can't make it up to me, so don't try..."  
Snow frowned and looked ready to protest, but David cut her off with a look. She released Emma sorrowfully.  
Emma tried to walk and stumbled over, grabbing the tree.

"Rule one, doesn't mean you can't help me ever." Emma sighed exasperated. Snow immediately was supporting one arm and David took up the other side.  
The three of them began the slow walk back towards Snow and Emma's old apartment, where Emma, David and Henry had been living for the past year.  
"Were you...did you come back...why are you wearing a nun's robes?" David asked sheepishly, turning to Snow, sure he knew the answer.  
Snow sighed dramatically, "Yes, you missed the whole magical rebirth, sans wardrobe."  
David gave a playful frown. "I don't suppose a reenactment could be in my future."  
Snow smirked. "Emma does take long showers."  
"Rule two." Emma sputtered...  
But the two of them just laughed. David shook his head. "Next you're going to want us to find our place to live. Even though you are living in Snow's old apartment."

Emma frowned. They were a strange couple, part David and Mary Margaret, Princess Snow and Prince James, and highway robber and shephard man. Snow and David. And Emma was forever stuck in the middle.

David helped get new clothes out while Snow helped her out of the dress which stuck to her, patches missing and singed. Emma shooed her out when she caught her looking at old childhood scars in guilt. Standing gingerly in the shower, she let the hot water clear her mind and clean off the blood and grime. And when she emerged clean and elegant, and weary, but not too worse for the wear, the three of them left for the diner. Emma complimented her father on his choice of clothes for her to wear and she pretended that she couldn't tell that while Snow had changed clothes too, no reunion sex had occurred, the wet spot showing that Snow had been crying the whole time Emma had been showering, on David's shirt.

Yep, they were quite the family. But Emma smiled. She was home.


	62. Each looking for their own savior

***  
"Come, you can ask me any question you want. I promise I'll answer truthfully, even if I don't have to." Henry grabbed Regina's hand as he lifted her from the window. Regina felt some strength in her legs. Enough to walk slowly.  
Regina frowned. "I guess that means my mother has removed your commands or she is dead."  
Henry sighed. She did have to get right to the painful stuff, didn't she?  
"She's dead." Henry sighed. "Not long after you bit the apple." She seemed to study Henry for clues. He hesitated. "She killed herself."

Woodenly, Regina assembled things for Henry in the bathroom. When Henry emerged from the shower, dressed, though his old pants were a bit short now, he wandered into the master bedroom again.  
Regina was still showering, but the shower door was cracked open. It was a giant sauna, steam being created so fast that the vent couldn't keep up. His mom always took hot showers, but this was even more so than usual.

Henry sat on the bed. His eyes fell on an opened letter on the nightstand.  
He picked it up, unaware that he was holding his breath.

It was the same handwriting from the letter to Emma. Cora's.

_Regina,_

_I hopefully am dead and you are not. If not, and I have proved once again to disappoint, then let this information be a warning, rather than a weak apology. _

_I swore when I was 17 years old and married to King George that I would destroy Rumpelstiltskin. Not because I hated him, but because I understood him. Grief makes you do stupid things. Love makes you do even stupider things. Death was the only relief from both for him. And perhaps for me too. I discovered how to destroy the Dark One, without becoming the new Dark One, before you existed. I managed to obtain the knife, through things I would rather not discuss, deals I am not proud of. _  
_But discuss them I must. You deserve to know. I can't take things back. But perhaps one day, you will find it in your heart to release the anger you feel for me. I will likely never benefit from it, but you will._

_My plans were put aside temporarily when King George threatened to kill me, then I had you, and I was torn. I was still miserable, but I didn't want to leave you behind, like my mother had done to me, so I put my plans aside for the time being. When you could take care of yourself, became my mantra. _  
_When Rumplestiltskin came and told us that he had seen the future, that your magic would destroy the world, causing the End of Everything as we knew it, I was terrified. He told me that had placed me in King's George's household, so I would never have any children. And now I knew why. To thus discontinue his godforsaken lineage. He was too much of a coward to just kill me, his only remaining descendant. He had place me where I was subject to abuse and fear and the pain of feeling three children die my arms. _

_In anger, with the knife I had recovered, I sought to kill him instead. The knife begged me to the moment I held it. I didn't realize how strong it was, how weak I was compared to its will. I was always so weak. Henry had to stop me, throw me to the ground..._  
_But it all mattered not. So I didn't become the next Dark One. But during the struggle, the blade had pierced his skin. And the Beast was born in me. Sure, I had always known fear, hatred and dark thoughts, but suddenly, they erupted a hundred fold, and the darkness, it seemed to have a mind of its own. Only, Henry, my rock, had ever had any weak control over it. _

_How I miss the damn idiot who somehow loved me, but he shall never be able to hear it from my lips, for he is dead and even writing this is difficult. He shall never know how his presence in the makeup of this town strengthens me here. How I can still feel his love..._

_My desire to take away Rumpelstiltskin's pain, knowing it so much more intimately now, increased dramatically, but my will to do so had all, but been defeated._

_In my growing madness, I refused the fairies you, even though Rumpelstiltskin had said I ought not to. I divided up your magic between Henry and I, even though Henry said I ought not to. When the dark fairy I had received the blade from, came for payment, she asked for your destruction. But once again, I couldn't be parted from you. This time however, it was because of your love for me. Your presence, your love for me, gave me strength, just as Henry's love did, keeping a bit of the darkness back. But I had to destroy you, that was the fairy's bargain. So I did. The only other way, I could think of. _  
_When your silent hatred of me, began to eat away at the strength you provided, I had to think of something else. So I gave you someone else to hate. _

_I know. I am a miserable human being. To leave you to destroy the only other thing that I once cared about, the little girl who could never really be Maggie. But I was so far gone, that I couldn't have understood how selfish I was being, if I tried. _  
_When I was exiled, I had to think of something else. So I became the Queen of Hearts. Dozens and dozens of hearts, I collected. Their sheer numbers, the goodness in them, the only thing keeping me from submitting completely to the darkness. However, none of them were ever as strong as the three I had left behind to rot in their hatred of me. Or the one and only heart, I feared I had truly destroyed. Daniel's. But Maggie assures me that I could never have truly destroyed him. No one has that sort of power. Thankfully._

_Your magic, did destroy the world. Just not as I had expected. A lesson about fighting the future, that a young Seer, named Daniel Mills has taught me. When I kidnapped your father, he told me that Daniel had furiously tried to fight a future that he had foreseen as a little boy. His own death. But as the pieces must have finally come together for him, he stopped. His final acceptance of it, was the message I needed, even if it took me years to see it. _

_Sometimes, in order to be saved, you have to be willing to die. And not on your own timeline. _

_Your mother_

Henry swallowed and put down the letter. How Regina must be suffering! Things had finally fallen into place, the strange and the terrible.  
Henry, the man who had tried to save a broken woman, thinking he had failed, and then a broken daughter, even as she pulled out his heart, Daniel Mills, a poor stable boy and reluctant Seer, who made a difficult and risky choice to accept death, Cora, the stubborn beast of burden, who had loved more than once, but had never accepted it for fear of another weakness, and Regina, a girl who was destroyed by her own inability to accept loss, both of her true love, and a little boy, she called son, stuck going around and around, like a horse on a carousel.  
How easy it was to destroy a whole world. And so much harder to save one. A weight lifted from his shoulders. Cora was just another human being, another lost soul. Emma had been right all along, just not in the way she had first intended to be right. There was no Evil Queen, no curse, no bad guys to this story. Just a whole world of miserable people, looking to find someone to love them. Each looking for their own savior.

Henry tentatively pushed against the door to the shower.  
"Mom?" He asked meekly.  
Regina was silent for a second, but then he knew she had heard him, because she began to cry.  
Henry came in and closed the door. "I'll talk about it, if you talk about it."  
Regina stopped. She was silent for many minutes and Henry almost thought she was going to stay silent for the rest of the shower.  
"I can't do this." Regina started.  
"Do what?" Henry prodded gently.  
"Play mom." Regina choked.  
Henry protested. "I don't see that as what is happening here."  
He took a deep breath. "You will always be my mom. You always have been. You took care of me, protected me and worried over me. You read me books, tried to teach me to do what was right, and when you thought you were becoming your mother, you backed off. You let Archie talk with me, and you finally pulled back from the fight with Emma."  
"Only cause I was never going to win." Regina softly sobbed. "Never in my whole life have I been able to win. Screwed over since birth. Predicted to destroy a whole world in one day. A whole world that had destroyed me first. I have just been playing house, until your real mother showed."  
Henry sighed. "Good thing, life isn't about winning or losing, is it? It's about becoming a better person." An idea occurred to him.  
Regina turned off the water.  
Henry closed his eyes. "I'm going to be downstairs in the kitchen. When you are ready, I have something we need to do."

Henry sat drinking stale hot chocolate mix. Regina emerged 10 minutes later, hair unusually still wet, and plainly dressed, but her skin bright red from the super hot water.  
Henry stood and opened a cabinet. He took a plate and with the force Regina hadn't expected he smashed it on the ground. "My father wanted to abort me." A heavy sigh left his chest.  
Regina frowned, too stunned and too emotionally exhausted to chastise him for breaking a plate. "What are you doing?"  
Henry picked up another. "Plates are easier to destroy and easier to clean up then people. And sometimes the universe and you just have to vent. Bottling things up just leads to destroying things bigger than plates."

He slammed the next plate. "My father seduces young girls in the foster care system."  
Henry closed his eyes and let that settle for a moment. Regina felt her throat constricting. Poor Henry, no wonder he looked sadder as well as older.  
Henry could sense her dwelling on his injuries. He handed Regina a plate. "Your turn."  
Regina held the plate, staring at it in shock. Then she slammed in with a great force, its shattering crash, satisfying.  
"You have to say what it is for." Henry protested when she reached for another plate without speaking.  
Regina sighed. She slammed the next one down. "My mother used magic to control my behavior as a child."  
Henry handed her another. "My only childhood friend, I scared away with a fake fight, so she wouldn't do the same to her too. But it was too late, my mother had already ruined her happiness by twisting her perception of her own magic. She too had come to think that being a dragon, was a bad thing. " She gave Henry a tired smile.

Regina grabbed another item, this time a cup, the one her mother had last used, without prompting. "My mother tricked Snow White into disclosing the secret about my elopement."  
She grabbed a huge dinner plate. "My mother ripped Daniel's heart out and squeezed it, right in front of my eyes. After she had just said she was letting us leave." Regina panted, her breathing heavy and labored. Her eyes were shiny and tear filled and unguarded.  
Henry smiled sadly. It was perhaps one of the only times he had really seen Regina. Not Mayor Mills, not his mother, or even what he now termed the Beast, too, but Regina.  
"This really works..." Regina gasped. She handed a plate to Henry.  
Henry accepted it. He slammed it more forcefully than before. "I spent most of my 11th birthday, without any of my family or friends, alone in the woods, thinking I was a monster."  
Regina closed her eyes. Her mother really must have done a number on him. "I'm so sorry, Henry."

It was refreshing to hear her apologize, but Henry shook his head. "This is not the place to apologize for things you didn't do. Break a plate." He grit his teeth.  
Regina took another. She hesitated, but finally smashed it. "The first time my mother ever said she was proud of me, was when I married an old man I didn't love, lied to Snow White's face about where Daniel went, and told her we were going to be a loving family, even though I already wanted her to die."

She ripped another from the cabinet, fire coming back into her eyes, hatred rather than sorrow. "My mother taught Snow, a little girl, how to do dark magic, a force she would spend the rest of her days, trying to control, to hold down." Smash.  
"Why would anyone, do that to a little girl? Especially my mother. She knew what the darkness felt like. Why? Just so I had something to hate, more than her?" Regina screamed and shattered another plate.

Henry began to frown. Somehow this had started great, but now he felt like they would go through the whole cabinet before Regina had nothing to say, mostly about her mother. Which wasn't going to be productive, Henry was sure of it. Hating her had slowly destroyed him too. Almost for good.  
Suddenly, any of the goodness she had ever displayed towards him or anyone else, seemed like a miracle. His heart beat faster.  
He had to end this. And he knew just how, but it was going to hurt. He took one more plate.

"I was so in despair that nothing had turned out right, that there would be no happy endings for anyone, that I contemplated killing Emma, my own mother, right up to holding the pillow and all. I had finally stopped believing that goodness ultimately had to win."  
Henry smashed the plate with such force.  
A great sob, rose from Henry. The last thing. He had talked about Cora's talk with Emma this morning, and now, he had reopened this wound.  
Regina grabbed the closest item and smashed it. Hot chocolate splattered everywhere.  
Henry's sobs turned into a demented half laugh as chocolate covered the usually meticulously clean cabinets. Regina grabbed him and sank down to the floor, holding him against her.  
Never had they ever had a moment so intimate between them. The two of them sat there, open emotional wounds and all, amongst a floor of ceramic shards.  
It took a few minutes, before Henry broke the silence. "What was the chocolate mug for?"  
Regina weakly smiled. "That my son, sees this almost act, one of ultimate sacrifice, as a means of self-hatred."  
Henry shivered. He thought of the two dimes and a nickel. "That's how you see it?"  
Regina met his eyes. "Yes. The ultimate form of love. To sacrifice what you hold dear, to save a world." She had done the same, except she wished to destroy a world. "Ironically, this is what really makes Snow White a much better person than me, giving up Emma, knowing full well she might never come back, or that even her coming back to Storybrooke, did not guarantee a win. And that they would never get those years back."

There was silence for many minutes. Henry leaned back into her and looked at the ground. "It's going to kill you, isn't it?"  
"What?" Regina inquired, startled by the change in topic.  
"Snow White and David's reunion. Their happiness, together. Everyone's really. It's going to kill you slowly, all over again."  
Regina made motions to argue this, but Henry cut her off. "Don't lie to me, not after all this."  
Regina gave a heavy sigh. "Probably. I could feel the old sting again, when they were in the lawn an hour ago. Like claws, ripping me from the inside."  
Henry nodded somberly. "Then I'm going to have to do the same."  
Regina raised an eyebrow. "Do what?"  
"Sacrifice a mother, to save a world. Well, except the fresh start would be saving my mother too, I guess."  
Regina frowned. He couldn't seriously be considering killing Emma again. Could she really have failed that badly?

Henry seemed to sense her worry and clarified. "You are going to have to leave. Leave Storybrooke, possibly for good. And I'm going to have to stay here. I'd be giving you up, to save you. And you would be giving up me, to save a whole world."

From herself. Regina made to protest again. But she stopped. She knew deep in her heart, that Henry, her savior, was making the hardest decision in his whole life. And it was the right one. The one her mother had been unable to make.  
She could deny it all she wanted, say she had changed, but she knew, that she would fall right back into old habits and nursing old wounds if she stayed here.  
Regina sighed. "You better get to the diner before they start worrying. I'm going to pack. Because you are right. And the sooner, I make a break, the better."  
Henry stood, but looked worried.  
"Don't worry, I won't leave without saying goodbye to you."  
Henry nodded and hugged her once more. "You better write me, all the time. So I know you are okay."  
Regina tightened her embrace, tears streaming down her face. She was mending things with Henry, just as she was leaving. "And if you ever need anything, you can call me anytime you want."  
Henry smiled. "Oh, I will. Even if it is 3am."

And he sadly walked out the door and she walked up the stairs.


	63. A toast to happy beginnings

Only this and the epilogue left! If anyone would like to see what happened to Baelfire, as well as Henry finding love, I did write a section on that, but I felt it interfered with the flow of the story. If anyone is interested, I will post in separately.

***  
Henry put on a smile and laughed and danced with various people at the small party. But Emma knew better. It was the same sort of smile she gave when she was sad, but trying not to be, the kind that didn't quite reach your eyes.  
Granny taught him old realm line dances and Henry taught her the shopping cart and the lawnmower.  
Red told stories of the world beyond Storybrooke, holding everyone captivated, She talked of the subways and the train stations, the museums and the monuments, the rich and the poor. A world where everything was possible and monthly transformations did not happen. A world where she didn't have to be Red Riding Hood, or even the Big Bad Wolf. She could be Rosie.

Emma noticed Henry had slipped away during this, but he gave her a smile and said he would be back. And Emma took a deep breath and used all of her willpower to trust him and let him leave into the dark.

As Emma sat there, on the steps outside the diner, August and Snow emerged.  
Emma blinked. He was real.  
"Please, don't be mad. Look, I know you were hoping to make this an example of how far you had come, how you had managed to overcome the beast or something." August began.  
"But you said you were stronger with me. So don't keep me out here, waiting, let me help you, help yourself."  
Emma looked at her mother. A mother who had been brought back to life from the magic of a kiss of true love, who was now comprised of good magic and not darkness. A risky move, giving her heart into Regina's control. A move of love that had paid off.  
Emma knew she had done this magic for her. Emma swallowed her anger. It was what she needed, even if it wasn't what she wanted. She gave her mother a half smile.  
Emma sighed and embraced him. "I never was any good at asking for help."  
August gave a soft chuckle. "Me neither. We must have some sort of tragic childhood in common or something." He flashed a quirky smile and Emma rolled her eyes.  
Snow gave a small chuckle at that. Emma gave her a weak smile of thanks and Snow turned to go inside, to give them some privacy.

August pulled her into a kiss, soft and gentle. Emma felt more in the tender affection, than ever before from any man. Stars flashed in her eyes.  
"For being made of wood, you sure know how to kiss." She teased, covering up her weak spot, her vulnerabilities. August didn't comment, just kissed her again, widening the gap in her armor.  
When they separated, Emma stared back at the stars.  
"I'm glad that you left me August. As a boy."  
August frowned. "Why?"  
"Because then you would be more like a brother." She smirked. "And I'd rather have this."  
August grinned. "Glad I did something right, princess." His voice dripped with false mockery, but he gave a genuine smile.

Henry came back 15 minutes later, red eyed, but a bit of the old sparkle was back. Faith in love. He smiled a real smile. He had in his hand a letter.  
"What's the letter for, Henry?" Emma asked.  
Henry beamed. "It's from me. It's my message from the future"  
Sure enough Emma recognized Henry's funny little s's even in an old shaky man's handwriting on the front.  
Henry opened the already opened letter. "It was for Regina, but she gave me permission to share."

_Mom,_  
_A day doesn't go by that I don't think about the past. Mostly in joy and tenderness. However, if I seem clumsy in my words, it is merely because it is hard to write to a woman, so far removed from the one I have come to know for the rest of my adult life._  
_So I must make myself perfectly clear, by being simple._  
_I love you, I have always loved you, even when I didn't know it myself. And I was capable of loving others, because you taught me just how difficult it really was. But worth it. Totally worth it. Once Upon a Time, the book, it upsets you that I wrote it, and that I called you the Evil Queen. But it is just a book, it is just a story, and the phrase just means it happened. That it was real. But so is the future. Make of it, what you want._  
_Oh, and don't give up on subway guy. Who else could possibly love you more completely?_

_Love,_  
_Your Henry_

_P.S. And when I ask you in the future, to please, put Rumplestiltskin out of his misery, I don't mean killing him. :)_

"She's leaving." Henry added. "She's leaving town and never coming back."  
Emma stood. "Oh, Henry." She hugged him. But he didn't seem sad.  
"I had to let her go, it was for the best. She needed to be somewhere where each and every day was a real fresh start, instead of salt on old wounds. And this letter proves that it was the right thing. There is a subway guy, whoever that is. There is love."  
Emma sighed. But it was in happiness. Her son was so incredible. She opened her eyes.  
"Is there dust in your hair?" She frowned. She thought he showered.  
Henry blushed slightly. "It's ceramic shards probably."  
Emma frowned.  
"I might have tried that thing you talking about this morning. We broke a lot of plates." Henry shrugged with a smile.  
Emma laughed. She rubbed the dust from his hair and met his eyes. They shared a moment, wordless and intimate.  
"Let's go inside. They are probably wondering what happened to you." August smiled.  
"You're real." Henry proclaimed, noticing for the first time.  
"I was just as real before, Henry. I was just as real before." August smiled.  
And the three of them walked inside.

"A Toast!" Thomas was proclaiming. Someone handed Emma and August a beer and Henry a root beer. Everyone gathered round.  
"To the newlyweds." Thomas began, wrapping his arm around Ella. "Half of the happiness in life is pure chance."  
"...and the other half, of your own making." Ella added with a smile.  
"So, much luck and courage to the both of you." Thomas finished.

Glasses were clinked. David leaned in and kissed a tear flowing down Snow's cheek, even as she smiled.  
"To all married couples. Who already know how difficult love really is." Granny returned.  
More glasses clinked.  
Snow and David kissed, on demand, amid cheering. Any sadness between them, would have to wait for another day. Today was a happy day.

"To the savior." A few calls rang out and Emma was pushed towards the front shaking her head, but smiling. Emma looked out over the small assembly. Hopeful and eager.  
Emma grinned. "To my savior." She glanced at Henry. "Because even a savior of a whole world needs one of their own. Thank you for showing me the meaning of true love."  
Henry grinned broadly. Glasses were clinked amid more cheers.

Only Nova, did not clink. Emma turned and looked at her funny. She had her eyes closed and the few fairies that had stayed were watching her.  
"Blue Fairy?" Daisy placed a hand on her shoulder.  
Her eyes flew open.  
"The curse is ending."

"Isn't it over already?" Emma asked.  
"Does that mean we are going back?" Gepetto asked.

Nova smiled. "No, it means Regina has left Storybrooke. I felt her pass beyond the boundaries." She raised her glass. "It means, Emma. That you are free. Your death, purposeful, accidental or natural, will not set all of us back, to start over again. You have no more power over a curse, that Regina no longer believes in. She has finally thrown it away, like an old garment."

There was a strange silence as a sort of peace settled over the group. Emma agreed, this was the lightest she had even felt in her whole life. Like there were infinite possibilities, most of them better then the next.  
Red stood up. "I say we toast to that. To new beginnings and fresh starts. For everyone." Granny flashed a hopeful smile in her direction and Red slowly returned it.  
Glasses clinked again, more fervently than before.


	64. Epilogue

This is it! Finally done. No requests yet for the Baelfire chapters, but if you would like I will post them separately. Thanks again to my loyal reviewers and readers, this has been quite the journey. Can't wait to see what season 2 will really bring us, but this week's episode promises some answers to how Regina got her magic, so this should be interesting.

***  
Jefferson, popped through a portal and grabbed the hat. Grace's special hat. So he could never be lost anywhere again as long as he held it.  
He almost tripped over a man in the alley.  
Rumpelstiltskin.  
He looked drawn and pale, even in the dimly lit street. His eyes were glazed over, lost in a painful vision.  
Jefferson knew, that he had made a deal. The deal which had won him the ability to see the future. The deal with Cora's mother. To get rid of her daughter's magic. The price had been steep for her mother, she had to give up her own passion, which over time had caused her to slowly lose the will to live.  
The deal that had sealed Cora's fate. Cora, who would unknowingly do the exact same thing to her own daughter. A future that, would lead to others, which were just as dark, a future which was now to haunt Rumplestiltskin for the rest of his years.  
Jefferson growled and kicked him. "Rumplestiltskin."  
Rumpelstiltskin's eyes came into focus. "You know my name, stranger. How?"  
"All magic comes with a price, doesn't it? I should know, because I am already paying for mine."

Jefferson ran forward, leaving the imp with this thought, one that he knew he would hear countless times in his past and Rumplestiltskin's future, for the small cottage behind a darkened store window.  
"Push, Grace. You have to push." The town midwife was urging his daughter.  
"Not without my father." He could hear her grumble back.  
The midwife, was not pleased.  
"My Grace." Jefferson called out.  
"Papa!"  
"No men, during delivery." The midwife complained.  
"Shut up!" Grace yelled in a manner of temper, Jefferson had only seen from her once before. When they fought over coming back here.  
"Well?" Grace asked panting, searching her father's eyes.  
Jefferson smiled. "Your mother would be proud. Best, I think we could hope for, considering how things started."  
Grace gave a weak smile. "A price you would gladly pay?"  
Jefferson nodded.  
"Now push, before you kill yourself." He gruffly demanded. "I'll tell you more later."  
Grace gave a weak laugh, but obeyed.  
Jefferson stood there, watching her face, silently giving her strength. Alice would have been proud. Alice, a girl who stumbled into a rabbit hole and had been able to see beyond the veil, to see the scared little girl behind the throne of Wonderland. A beautiful wife who had told him that with gifts like his, what kind of human being was he if he didn't use them help people? A woman who had failed to fix things and had so had volunteered to do what he would not attempt, to make sacrifices as a means of salvation. By giving up her heart, to a broken Queen. A vein of selflessness that would eventually reach down through the generations through her own daughter, Grace, into Snow and her descendants.

Regina had been right. He'd hadn't had the strength in him. He could not endure what his baby girl, who was now a woman was about to embark on. But she could. She was his savior, his Grace.  
A sudden cry. A baby. A girl.  
"May I please come in now?" A man in the other room pleaded behind the door. The baker, whom Grace loved. Not perhaps the same way that she had loved Henry. But she loved this timid, gentle man all the same.  
"Oh, please." Grace shouted. He stumbled in, joy and anticipation in his eyes.  
"What are we going to name her?" The midwife asked, as she cleaned the baby off and handed the tiny bundle to him.

"Margaret."  
"If that's okay with you, Grace." He added quickly.

Her father and her shared a wordless look. There was her sign. That everything was as it was supposed to be. They began to crack up in laughter. The midwife shook her head and left the two of them in their insanity.  
"You are crazy, little lady." She sighed.  
Another fit of giggles.  
"Is that a yes, Grace?"  
"Yes." Grace grinned like a Cheshire Cat. "It's a beautiful name for a queen."  
Her husband kissed her forehead and then the baby's. He handed their daughter to her.  
"I doubt she will be queen, but I am glad you like the name." He smiled and left the room.

"Oh Maggie, I'm sorry you'll be stuck with me. A mother, Nuttier than a Fruitcake."  
"Crazy as a Loon." Jefferson proposed.  
"Mad as a Hatter." Grace added with tears in her eyes.  
"Best Hat Trick, ever." Jefferson sighed.  
And Grace agreed.

***  
"Und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, dann leben sie noch heute."  
(And if they are not dead, then they are alive today.)  
-traditional Grimm brothers fairy tale ending...NOT happily ever after

At least somewhere...perhaps even in Maine.


End file.
